Karnataka HC slaps Twitter with a hefty fine for not complying with IT Ministry directives

The Karnataka High Court has imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh on Twitter for challenging the blocking orders issued by the IT ministry. The court rejected Twitter’s request to suspend the government’s order, which required the platform to remove certain accounts and tweets related to the farmers’ protests and the coronavirus.

Twitter argued that the blocking orders lacked proper procedure and exceeded the government’s powers.

Twitter challenging the Indian IT Ministry
Last year, the IT ministry sent a notice to Twitter, warning that failure to remove the tweets would result in the platform losing its legal immunity under Section 79(1) of the IT Act.

Twitter then sought legal intervention by filing a petition, questioning how it could be instructed to block user accounts and suppress freedom of speech.

Twitter gets pulled up
During the verdict’s announcement, the bench stated that Twitter had received notices but failed to comply. The penalty for non-compliance could involve imprisonment for up to seven years and an unlimited fine. Despite this, Twitter did not show any valid reason for its delayed compliance, waiting over a year before approaching the court.

According to LiveLaw, while announcing the verdict, the bench said, “Your client (Twitter) was given notices and your client did not comply…Punishment for non-compliance is seven years imprisonment and an unlimited fine. That also did not deter your client. So you have not given any reason why you delayed compliance, more than a year of delay…then all of sudden you comply and approach the Court. You are not a farmer but a billion-dollar company.”

Jack Dorsey’s controversial take on Twitter in India
Just a few days ago, before Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US, where he met Twitter’s current owner Elon Musk, Twitter’s co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey had made some controversial comments. Dorsey claimed in an interview that the Government of India had threatened to take action against Twitter, and its staff in India, if it did not suppress tweets about the farmer’s protest and tweets from certain opposition leaders and journalists.

To this, IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar launched a scathing attack on Dorsey, not only claiming that he is lying but also that Dorsey doesn’t respect the sovereignty of India’s laws.

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