The Centre on Wednesday told the Karnataka High Court that X, formerly known as Twitter, did not need to know the reasons behind the government’s decision to order the blocking of certain accounts in 2021 and 2022, Bar and Bench reported.
The social media platform had asked to see the orders of a government review committee containing reasons for why the accounts were directed to be blocked.
“Why does [X] need to see the review file?” the Centre’s counsel asked the court. “He is only an intermediary. What is his grievance if some accounts are blocked? These accounts were asked to be blocked because at that time, several fake tweets were being posted from certain neighbouring countries.”
X told the court on Wednesday that it had the right to access the review committee’s orders since the Centre’s blocking directives were based on them. It said that account-level blocking is a disproportionate measure that violates the constitutional rights of its users.
The social media platform had moved the court in August against a single-judge bench’s verdict from June 2023 dismissing its plea against the Centre’s directives. It challenged the blocking of 39 URLs.
The court had remarked at the time that the matter was one of state policy. It also said that it would not exercise its powers at the behest of a “foreign entity engaged in speculative litigation”.
The court had cited the use of X by “anti-India campaigners, terrorists, sedition-seekers and foreign adversaries who intended to destabilise India” as a matter of concern.
Also read: ‘Excessive power to state’: Why experts are worried about Karnataka High Court Twitter verdict
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