Supreme Court directs Meta to restore Gujarat AAP wing’s Instagram and Facebook accounts

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered Meta to restore the Instagram and Facebook accounts of Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Gujarat wing.

A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe passed the direction on a plea filed by the AAP seeking restoration of the Facebook page and Instagram handle of its Gujarat unit, which were blocked shortly before the local body elections in the State.

According to the petition, Meta informed AAP that access to the Gujarat unit's Facebook page and Instagram handle had been restricted in India pursuant to a request from a government or law enforcement agency under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

AAP moved the Court alleging that the blocking direction was never supplied to it and that the accounts were blocked without notice, hearing or a reasoned order.

The party's plea said that blocking the entire Facebook page and Instagram handle of a recognised national political party, instead of restricting any specific offending content, amounted to a disproportionate restriction on political speech and violates the principles of natural justice and proportionality.

When the matter was initially heard on July 14, Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for AAP, submitted that the Gujarat unit's Facebook page and Instagram handle were blocked on April 24, a day before the local body elections in the State.

Farasat argued that AAP was willing, without prejudice to its rights and contentions, to remove any specific post found offending if the accounts themselves were restored.

"My website is gone. It can't be like that," he submitted.

The Bench on that date issued notice to the Union government and sought its response.

The Court today directed that the account block be lifted.

Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat with advocates Siddhant Sharma and Talha Abdul Rahman appeared for AAP.