Twitter Moves Court Against Indian Government Over Content Blocking Orders - Reports

Over the past year, the Indian government has requested that Twitter take action against certain posts, including those supporting Khalistani separatists, spreading misinformation about the farmers' protest, the COVID-19 pandemic, and much more. If it doesn't comply with the orders, the platform will face legal action.

Twitter on Tuesday filed a petition in Karnataka High Court challenging the Indian government's orders to take down certain content from the social media platform that violates their new rules, according to the news agency IANS.

In the written petition, Twitter has alleged that multiple accounts and content included in the blocking orders are "overbroad and arbitrary," sources told IANS. It was stated that several blocking orders that were issued to Twitter had failed to demonstrate how the content falls under the "violative" category of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

The IT Act allows the Indian government to block public access to content in the interest of national security, among other reasons. Twitter reportedly claimed that blocking political posts made by official handles of political parties could amount to a violation of freedom of speech.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is yet to react to Twitter's move.

The conflict between Twitter and the Indian government erupted early last year, when the social media platform declined to fully comply with an order to take down accounts and posts which were accused of spreading misinformation about anti-government protests by farmers.

Last year, Twitter faced backlash in India for blocking the accounts of influential individuals citing violations of its policies, with many switching to the Indian-made micro-blogging app “Koo.”

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