NEW DELHI: Social media giant X (formerly Twitter) has told Delhi high court that the Centre’s decision to block the account of Hindutva Watch (@HindutvaWatchIn) was “unjustified and disproportionate”.
Xwas replying to a petition by Raqib Hameed, a J&K journalist who has challenged the January 2024 blocking as the tracker’s founder. The HC will hear the matter next on October 3.
According to X, it had objected to the Centre’s blocking proposal but the government went ahead with the order. X told the court it was willing to restore the account if the HC so ordered. But X contended that Hameed’s writ petition was not maintainable against it as the platform was merely an “intermediary”, not part of “State” as defined under Article 12 of the Constitution.
Hindutva Watch describes itself as a research initiative claiming to track and document hate crimes & hate speeches against India’s religious minorities.
Union ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) had issued X a notice this Jan listing several accounts, including Hindutva Watch, to be blocked on the ground of their “potential to incite violence and disrupt public law”.
In its objections, X said the ministry had flagged posts on Hindutva Watch as “inciteful” without any basis, with some of them six months to a year old. The ministry still went ahead, directing X to block the account.
The social media platform said in its submission that it wrote back to the Centre reiterating the blocking order violated Articles 14 (equality) and 21 (life and personal liberty) of the Constitution and Section 69A of the IT Act. X told HC it had also requested the ministry for a review committee hearing, but the latter did not respond. Eventually, the account was blocked and Hameed intimated that the action was taken to comply with a legal demand, X told HC.