
Karnataka High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Microblogging site Twitter on Friday. The petition challenged several alleged blockings and content take-down orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The court order termed the plea to be devoid of merits. The single-judge bench led by Justice Krishna S Dixit also imposed a fine worth Rs 50 lakh on Twitter and directed the multinational corporation to pay the imposed fine amount to Karnataka State Legal Services Authority within 45 days.
Part of the judgement against Twitter read, “In the above circumstances this petition being devoid of merits is liable to be dismissed with exemplary costs and accordingly it is. Petitioner is levied with an exemplary cost of Rs 50 lakh payable to the Karnataka State Legal Service Authority, Bangalore within 45 days.” Judgment also said that Twitter will attract additional penalties of Rs 5,000 per day if they fail to pay the fine in due duration and also added that central government has due authority over content moderation.
Elon Musk-owned Twitter filed petition with Karnataka High Court against a series of orders by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology challenging the various takedowns and accusing the ministry of breach of article 19 of the constitution which grants citizens freedom of speech. Government responded calling Twitter to act responsibly and providing information of account holders as a duty. Additional solicitor general R Sankaranarayan who appeared on the behalf of central government gave examples of “dangerous” tweets and content which might be a potential threat on the sovereignty and integrity of the country and would attract government action on such accounts.