Twitter is not entitled to relief under fundamental rights as a foreign entity: Centre

Bengaluru: The Centre reiterated in the Karnataka High Court that Twitter could not be granted relief under the fundamental rights envisaged in the Constitution because of its foreign origin regarding a plea filed by it challenging the blocking orders issued by the government.

Neither could Twitter claim rights nor could the rights of account holders be promoted in the absence of relevant legislation, argued Additional Solicitor General (ASG) R Sankaranarayanan in court.

In the previous hearing, the AG had cited a UK court ruling that favoured blocking of social media accounts. In the recent hearing, the case of Anuradha Bhasin v Union of India was cited to strengthen his argument that the court had not ruled in favour of the petitioner, who sought the full restoration of the internet in Jammu and Kashmir against the Union government.

The ASG acknowledged the test that was applied in this case, which required the state's objective to be pursued with a rational connection between the measures taken and the desired outcome, while also maintaining proportionality. He emphasized that although it was permissible for people to join a platform, it could lead to complications if it jeopardized national integrity and sovereignty.

According to the ASG, Twitter violated Rule 16 of the Information Technology (Blocking Rules), 2009, by not maintaining strict confidentiality regarding all complaints.

However, he highlighted that tweets were being posted that referred to 'Indian Occupied Kashmir' and suggested the survival of slain LTTE leader Prabhakaran.