Karnataka HC Dismisses Twitter Plea Against Centre's Blocking Orders, Imposes ₹50 Lakh Cost

The Karnataka High Court on Friday dismissed Twitter's plea against the orders issued by the Centre to block certain social media accounts and tweets. In addition, the court has imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on the microblogging site. Last year, Twitter had challenged the orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

Twitter's Challenge to Centre's Order

In 2022, Twitter approached the Karnataka High Court to challenge the Centre's order to take down content from its platform under the new Information Technology (IT) rules. During the plea hearings, Twitter argued that an order issued by the Centre to block an account should specify the reasons behind it. The company also emphasized the need for a provision to challenge such orders issued under section 69A of the IT Act, 2000.

Twitter's Non-Compliance and Government's Claims

The Centre, on the other hand, stated that Twitter had been a "habitual non-compliant platform for several years." It revealed that approximately 50 meetings were conducted between the government and Twitter representatives before the blocking orders were issued. The government further accused Twitter of displaying a clear intention to not comply with the laws of the land.