Prominent Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV's official Facebook page which was blocked without notice for Indian users, has been restored after a week.
The channel confirmed Meta Platforms lifted the restriction automatically, citing a "government request that has expired or been reversed". This followed MediaOne's petition to the Kerala High Court, challenging the block as arbitrary, violative of the Information Technology Act, and Supreme Court rulings.
The High Court issued notice to Meta via email hours before restoration. MediaOne argued that the full-page block—without citing specific content—exceeded platforms' authority, which is limited to targeted removals under policy or law.
This echoes prior troubles: In January 2022, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting banned MediaOne's broadcast on "national security" grounds, when it was denied security clearance by the Home Ministry. The Supreme Court overturned it in April 2023, ruling such claims cannot be conjured "out of thin air" and that policy criticism does not render media "anti-national". The apex court also made some observations about the overuse of 'national security' which it reasoned was not to be used without sufficient substantiation.