Karnataka High Court dismisses Twitter's lawsuit against Indian government
Last year, Twitter filed a lawsuit against the Indian government seeking a review of some of the content takedown orders by New Delhi. Now, the Karnataka High Court has dismissed the plea and fined the company Rs. 50 lakh. The lawsuit was previously criticized by Elon Musk, who said it put Twitter's operations in India "at risk."
Why does this story matter?
The Karnataka High Court verdict comes after allegations against the government by Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey claimed the platform received many requests from the government to block accounts and remove posts. The government refuted these claims. The government will see the verdict as a vindication of its stance. The relationship between Twitter and India has improved since Musk's acquisition.
Twitter didn't give any reason for delayed compliance: Judge
The lawsuit was dismissed by a single-judge bench. "Your client (Twitter) was given notices and your client did not comply," the court said. "So you have not given any reason why you delayed compliance, more than a year of delay... then all of sudden you comply and approach the Court. You are not a farmer but a billion dollar company," it added.
Twitter accused the government of abusing its power
Twitter's lawsuit against the Indian government came before Musk's acquisition of the company. The company alleged that the government abused its power by ordering to remove several tweets. The social media platform also accused the government of threatening to open criminal proceedings against its chief compliance officer if the orders are not complied with.
Company argued that government orders violated freedom of speech
In the court, Twitter argued that some of the orders by the government fell short of the procedural requirements of India's IT Act. It added that some orders "pertain to political content that is posted by official handles of political parties." "Blocking of such information is a violation of the freedom of speech guaranteed to citizen-users of the platform," the company argued.
Elon Musk was against Twitter's litigation
Twitter's litigation against the Indian government was cited by Musk as one of the reasons why he wanted to get out of the platform's acquisition. He said the company did not give him any notice of the litigation. According to him, the lawsuit was a departure from Twitter's ordinary course, as it has followed government orders in the past.
