The Union government told the Delhi High Court that X Corp may lose its safe harbour protection in India for failing to remove tweets by award winning journalist Rana Ayyub that allegedly criticise Hindu deities and Hindutva leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, further stating that steps have been initiated under the law to block certain "derogatory" and "communally sensitive posts", Live Law reported .
"The police notices and trial court order constitute 'actual knowledge' under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, triggering a statutory obligation on X to act expeditiously and remove such unlawful content. As X failed to act despite 'actual knowledge,' the safe harbour protection available to it is liable to be withdrawn," the Delhi High Court was told.
Section 79 of the IT Act provides safe harbour protection to intermediaries including social media platforms and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from liability for third party content, provided they act as facilitators, follow due diligence and remove unlawful content upon receiving notifications from the government or courts.
In a note submitted to Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, the Centre and police said the investigating agency had, on April 9, requested action under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, to block the objectionable tweets.
The request is currently under consideration, and appropriate action will be taken in accordance with the IT blocking rules.
"It is submitted that the Union of India, under the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009, has initiated proceedings in accordance with law. The designated officer shall take an appropriate decision," the note stated.
In a submission before Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, the Centre and police said the investigating agency had, on April 9, sought action under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, to block the tweets, with the request currently under consideration and a decision to be taken as per the IT blocking rules.
The controversy centres around a series of tweets posted by Rana Ayyub between 2013 and 2017, which include remarks referencing Hindu mythological figures such as Ram, Sita and Ravana, a quote attributed to Ali Sardar Jafri, critical comments on Hindutva leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Hindutva militant Nathuram Godse, as well as posts questioning the actions of the Indian Army and highlighting concerns about justice in Kashmir.
These tweets have been described by authorities as "derogatory" and communally sensitive, while critics argue they are being selectively targeted amid wider instances of unchecked hate speech online.
Journalist Koushik Raj criticised the move , stating, "There are literally so many hateful tweets out in the open. There is complete impunity to spread hatred against Muslims. And you want us to believe that 10-year-old tweets… are the problem?"