The Karnataka High court in the case X CORP And Union of India & Others observed and has orally suggested to the Union Government that it should being in an age limit for the use of social media.
The Division bench comprising of Justice G Narendar and Justice Vijaykumar A Patil in the case was hearing an appeal filed by X Corp. (formerly Twitter) against the decision of the single judge in order to dismiss its challenge to the Centre’s blocking orders
The court observed while haring the appeal filed by the social media platform wherein challenging the order of the single judge which had dismissed its petition questioning the blocking orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) as stated under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. The court in the case observed and has imposed the cost of Rs 50 lakhs on the company.
Therefore, the court stated that the company had to deposit an amount of 50% of the cost to show its bona fides. The company in its appeal stated that if the single bench decision is upheld, the Union Government will be emboldened to issue more blocking orders that violate Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, the Blocking Rules, and the procedures and safeguards mandated by the Supreme Court in the case of Shreya Singhal.
It was also argued before the court that the impugned order failed to follow the plain language of Section 69A (1) that reasons must be recorded in writing in a blocking order. Thus, it erroneously holds that Section 69A (1) does not require blocking orders to contain reasons in writing.
The court stated that the impugned order interpretation of Section 69A (1) leads to redundancy of words, which is impermissible in law.
In the case, the division bench reserved orders on the application file d by the company wherein seeking an interim relief.