Twitter unilaterally and arbitrarily suspended the account of Sushant Singh (@sushant_says) twice, i.e. on February 1 and May 26, 2021. We helped him file RTI requests with the Meity, DoT and MHA. Meity invoked the 2009 Blocking Rules and the RTI Act to deny information to Mr. Singh.
The Court found these rules, which prescribed a Code of Ethics and a 3-tier grievance redressal mechanism, to be prima facie violative of Article 19(1)(a) and beyond the rule-making power conferred by the Parliament on the Government.
In proceedings instituted by Mr TM Krishna, challenging the validity of IT Rules, 2021, the Madras High Court directed the government to explain why appropirate action should not be taken against those responsible for the delay in their filing. The case is now listed for 13th August 2021.
Google, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Twitter have released their transparency reports in compliance with Rule 4(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (the 2021 IT Rules).