MediaOne moves Kerala High Court against blocking of its Facebook page

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday issued notice to Facebook India Online Services Pvt Ltd and the Central and State governments on a plea by news channel MediaOne challenging the blocking of its Facebook page in India [Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd v Facebook India Online Services Pvt Ltd and ors].

Justice KV Jayakumar, while hearing the plea, asked whether the Court's order can be enforced against Facebook.

"Even if I pass an order against Facebook, how can it be enforced?" the judge asked

Responding to the query the petitioner's counsel stated,

"Any order of the Court, they (Facebook) are liable to comply My Lord."

The Court, however, declined to grant interim relief at this stage, noting that the matter requires a detailed hearing.

It issued notice to Facebook and Central and State authorities asked them to file their responses.

"I am not inclined to issue any interim order right now. Let them file a counter affidavit," the judge orally remarked.

The petition was filed by Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd which operates the MediaOne TV channel.

The petitioner alleged that the blocking of the channel's Facebook page was done without any disclosed blocking order under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000 which empowers Central government to block information on the internet to protect national security, public order, and international relation.

The blocking order has resulted in the Facebook page shown as "not available in India".

According to the plea, the blocking powers under Section 69A read with the 2009 Blocking Rules permit restriction only of specific content and not disabling of an entire account page or page. Such action was arbitrary and violative of the statutory safeguards governing online content regulation, it was contended.

It also stated that the Facebook page has been operational since 2011 and is a key platform for dissemination of news. However, its blocking has completely disrupted the channel's digital operations in India, affecting access to its content and causing significant revenue loss.

The petition stated that there is lack of transparency in the procedure adopted to block the page since no notice was issued to the channel and it was not given any reason for the blanket blocking.

Such actions affect journalistic freedom and violate the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 (1)(a), the right to carry on business under Article 19(1)(g) and the unlawful deprivation of its digital property under Article 300A of the Indian Constitution, it was argued.

"The impugned action is ex facie arbitrary and without authority of law. No blocking order under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 has been disclosed. No reasons have been furnished. No notice or opportunity of hearing has been granted. The Respondents have acted in complete disregard of the mandatory statutory safeguards and constitutional limitations governing online content regulation," the petition said.

Senior counsel P Deepak instructed by advocate Ameen Hassan K along with advocates Lisna Sherin TT, Ummul Fadla T and Sidharth O appeared for MediaOne.

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