Shillong, June 30: The Karnataka High Court has dismissed Twitter’s plea against the Centre’s orders 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.
The Centre had instructed Twitter to block multiple social media accounts and tweets between February 2021 and February 2022. Twitter had challenged 39 of these blocking orders.
In 2022, Twitter approached the Karnataka High Court to challenge the Centre’s order to remove content from its platform under the new Information Technology (IT) rules.
During the plea hearings, Twitter argued that the Centre should provide reasons for blocking an account through an order. It also emphasized the need for a provision that allows for the challenge of orders issued under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000.
The Centre, on the other hand, informed the high court that Twitter has been a “habitual non-compliant platform for several years.”
