IT Act mandates informing users of reasons for blocking, Twitter tells Karnataka HC in battle against govt orders

While a provision under the Information Technology Act, 2000, empowers the government to order the blocking of access to online content, it also necessitates the recording of reasons for the order which must be communicated to the users, Twitter Inc told the Karnataka High Court Thursday.

Twitter made the argument in the court in the course of the hearing of a petition against government orders to block the handles of Twitter users by citing national security concerns. Twitter challenged 39 blocking orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2021.

Senior advocate for Twitter Inc Ashok Haranahalli argued that Section 69 A of the IT Act, which empowers the state to issue blocking orders, also states that the reasons for the blocking orders must be recorded.