“It is apposite to note that such inaction amounts to non-compliance with the due diligence requirements provided for in the applicable Rules and facilitates continues commission of unlawful acts by its user i.e. Rana Ayyub and a consequence thereof the protection of safe harbor available to the intermediary available under Section 79(1) is liable to be withdrawn.” This statement from the Union government underscores the escalating legal challenges surrounding journalist Rana Ayyub’s tweets.
The controversy centers around a series of tweets posted by Ayyub between 2013 and 2017, which have been described as derogatory, inflammatory, and communally sensitive. The Union government has indicated that X Corp, the parent company of the platform where Ayyub’s tweets were posted, may lose its safe harbour protection in India due to its failure to remove these tweets.
According to the government, the tweets allegedly insult Hindu deities and prominent historical figure Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. In light of this, X Corp has received judicial orders and statutory notices from the Delhi Police, which are part of the ongoing legal proceedings.
Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act provides safe harbour protection to intermediaries like X Corp, provided they adhere to due diligence and remove unlawful content upon notification. However, the government has filed an affidavit asserting that X’s inaction constitutes non-compliance with these requirements.
Furthermore, the Delhi High Court was informed that the police had requested action under Section 69A of the IT Act to block the tweets. The Union government emphasized that the police notices and trial court order represent ‘actual knowledge’ under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, thereby triggering a statutory obligation for X to act swiftly.
The implications of this situation are significant, as the government’s stance could reshape the landscape of social media regulation in India, particularly concerning content deemed unlawful or offensive.
As the situation develops, the next steps for X Corp and Ayyub remain to be seen. Legal experts are closely monitoring the case, which could set a precedent for how similar cases are handled in the future.
