The Centre and Delhi Police have informed the Delhi High Court that Twitter's safe harbour protection may be withdrawn due to its inaction on tweets allegedly insulting Hindu deities.
The tweets in question were posted by journalist Rana Ayyub between 2013 and 2017, and despite receiving statutory notices and judicial orders, Twitter failed to remove them.
According to the Information Technology Act, 2000, online intermediaries like Twitter can claim immunity from legal liability for user-generated content if they follow due diligence and promptly remove unlawful content.
However, if they fail to do so, they can lose their immunity under Section 79(3)(b) of the Act.
The Centre and Delhi Police have filed a joint note stating that Twitter took no action despite having judicial notice of a trial court's order directing registration of an FIR against Ayyub.
The matter is now adjourned for May 19, and Ayyub has been granted time to respond to the Centre and Twitter's replies.
