The Delhi High Court on Monday questioned social media platform Twitter for inaction against accounts posting “blasphemous and objectionable” content on Hindu gods and goddesses, Bar and Bench reported.
The court made the observation while hearing the public interest litigation filed by advocate Aditya Deshwal, who had objected to some posts by a Twitter handle named Atheist Republic.
Deshwal had told the court that despite several complaints, Twitter had never suspended or removed “offendable content” posted by the Twitter user.
A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla said that it appeared as if Twitter took harsh steps only when it felt sensitive about a post.
“It is ultimately boiling down to this that if you [Twitter] feel sensitive you will block and you do not feel sensitive about the other ethnicities or people of other regions,” Justice Sanghi said, according to Live Law. “If the same kind of thing was done against other religions you would have been more serious.”
The bench then directed Twitter to file an explanation of its policy regarding a permanent ban on an account.
The court also directed the Union government to file a counter-affidavit and mention Twitter’s standard operating procedure about blocking access to an account or information, Bar and Bench reported.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing on behalf of Twitter, told the bench that permanent blocking of an account can be done only following a court order.
To this, the court asked why couldn’t Twitter use its agency when it observes a blasphemous post that has been offending people, Live Law reported.
Advocate Vrinda Bhandari, appearing on behalf of Atheist Republic, said that the users behind the account have not been heard in the matter.
The bench said that it will hear Atheist Republic as a respondent in the case, only if no offending material was uploaded on the handle till the case was decided.
The court will now hear the plea on September 6.
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