GS Paper 2:
Syllabus: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
Context: Twitter initiated legal action against some of the government missives ordering it to take down certain content
Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act: Section 69 (A) of the IT Act, 2000 allows the Centre to issue blocking orders to social media intermediaries.
Blocking order can be issued only for:
- Interest of sovereignty and integrity of India
- defence of India
- security of the state
- friendly relations with foreign states
- public order
- For preventing incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence relating to the above.
Process: Any request made by the government is sent to a review committee, which then issues these directions. Blocking orders issued under Section 69 (A) of the IT Act are typically confidential in nature.
Why has Twitter filed the lawsuit?
Twitter has claimed that many of the blocking orders are procedurally and substantively deficient under Section 69 (A) of the Act:
- g., Not giving prior notice to users before taking down content posted by them.
- MeitY has failed to demonstrate how some of the content it wants taken down falls under the purview of Section 69 (A).
- Some of the content flagged by the ministry may pertain to official accounts of political parties, blocking which could be violative of the right to free speech.
Insta Links
THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, 2000
Practice Questions:
Q. Discuss Section 66A of the IT Act, with reference to its alleged violation of Article 19 of the Constitution. (UPSC CSE 2013)
Source: Indian Express
