The court was hearing a petition by journalist Raqib Hameed Naik, founder of Hindutva Watch, seeking to quash the Centre’s blocking order issued under the Information Technology Act
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has contended that the decision of the Union Government to block the account of “Hindutva Watch” is disproportionate and exceeds the limits prescribed under Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India. It also expressed its willingness to restore the account.
The social media giant submitted its response to the Delhi High Court on a writ petition filed by Kashmir-based journalist and founder of Hindutva Watch (HW), Raqib Hameed Naik, seeking to quash the order blocking the X account @HindutvaWatchIn in January this year.
While stating on record that the blocking order was unjust, X supported HW’s request that the social media account be unblocked, objecting to the Centre govt order to block the account on multiple grounds.
X also submitted before the court that the Central govt’s order also violates the Supreme Court’s decision in the Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India, (2015) 5 SCC 1, relating to restrictions on online speech, held as unconstitutional on grounds of violating the freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.
The X account of Hindutva Watch, a hate-crime tracker in India, was blocked after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a notice listing several accounts that the government intended to block as they had the “potential to incite violence and disrupt public law.”
In compliance with the government’s directive, X withheld the account of Hindutva Watch, stating that the action was being taken in response to a legal demand.
According to Bar and Bench, X said that it objected to the ministry notice, claiming that @HindutvaWatchIn’ did not fall within the grounds specified under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) and that the ministry flagged the posts as inciteful without basis.
X has submitted in its reply that the Narendra Modi government’s blocking order against Hindutva Watch is without basis and disproportionate. X further added that the blocking of the petitioner’s entire account, as opposed to specific posts, was disproportionate and did not constitute the “least intrusive measure” as mandated under law.
X noted that the blocking order “disproportionately affects the user’s rights” because it prevents the user from using X in India at all and blocking HW’s entire account does not meet the four-part proportionality test.
As per its website, Hindutva Watch is a media and research initiative committed to documenting hate crimes and hate speech targeting India’s religious minorities and marginalised groups, including Dalits. The project has been described by the Washington Post as “one of the most robust real-time data sets of human rights abuses in the world’s largest democracy.” The LA Times has described HW as “a thorn in the side of Hindu nationalists who have been provoking anti-Muslim sentiment for years.”
The next date of hearing in the matter is October 3.