The hearing was before a single-judge bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit. Additional Solicitor General R Sankaranarayanan appearing for the government gave details of account users who were blocked for posting objectionable content.
The ASG also read out the Shreya Singhal case where the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, relating to restrictions on online speech, as unconstitutional on grounds of violating the freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.
The SC in the Shreya Singhal case held that online intermediaries would only be obligated to take down content on receiving an order from a court or government authority.
Earlier in February, the Central government had opposed the petition filed by Twitter challenging the blocking orders passed by the Government of India. The ASG had questioned the maintainability of the petition filed by the foreign company saying Twitter can’t espouse freedom of speech of its users in the absence of an enabling statute.
The ASG on Monday in the Karnataka HC read blocking orders of certain accounts that were sent to Twitter. He also referred to the statement of objections filed by the central government. During the course of the hearing the ASG gave comparative details of the law in the UK and in India with regard to powers and responsibilities of intermediaries, and said he will give more details of the comparative analysis.
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The next hearing on the matter will be on March 16.
