We are not at government's beck & call: Karnataka High Court takes dim view of multiple adjournments sought in Twitter plea

The Karnataka High Court on Monday took a poor view of the Central government seeking repeated adjournments in a plea by Twitter challenging ten blocking orders issued by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY). [Twitter v. Union of India].Justice Krishna S Dixit expressed his displeasure when a request was made for the case to be listed on January 27 or February 3."We are not at the government's dictation like that. I don't agree...What people will think? We are not at your beck and call. How many times you have taken adjournment? See the order sheet," he remarked while stressing on the importance of this case. .The case was last heard on October 27, 2022, when Twitter argued that blocking orders issued by the Centre must contain reasons that are communicated to users of the social media platform.Twitter had concluded its submissions on that day, after which the Central government sought time to prepare its response, and the case was adjourned to November 16..However, when the case was listed in November, the government requested an adjournment and the hearing was listed for January 9. .Before the High Court, Twitter has argued that the Central government was not empowered to issue general orders calling for the blocking of social media accounts.The Court was told that a blocking order could only be issued in a situation where the nature of the content was in line with the grounds laid down under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act..The ten blocking orders in question, which were issued between February 2021 and February 2022, directed Twitter to block certain information from access to the public, and to suspend several accounts. The blocking orders were handed over to the High Court via sealed covers marked as annexures A to K.In its petition filed before the High Court, Twitter has contended that account-level blocking is a disproportionate measure and violates the rights of users under the Constitution.Out of a total of 1,474 accounts and 175 tweets, Twitter has challenged the blocking of only 39 URLs..The petition states that the orders in question are manifestly arbitrary, and procedurally and substantively not in consonance with Section 69A of the IT Act.Further, they fail to comply with the procedures and safeguards prescribed by the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009 (Blocking Rules), it has been submitted.Twitter has also argued that the direction to block entire accounts falls afoul of Section 69A of the IT Act..The Central government, on the other hand, submitted that the directions to block certain Twitter accounts were issued in national and public interest, and to prevent incidents of lynching and mob violence.The government has emphasised that it is committed to providing an open, safe, trusted and accountable internet to its citizens, and that its powers to block information have a limited scope..[Exclusive] Account-level blocking violates rights of users; blocking of 39 URLs challenged: Why Twitter has moved the Karnataka High Court.[Read our live coverage of today's hearing here]