Centre defends use of IT act for takedown notices

Rebuffing X's challenge against takedown notices issued under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, the Centre on Thursday submitted that this mechanism complements rather than "eviscerates" the Section 69A blocking process.

- Aditi Agrawal

The government called X's conflation of these processes an attempt to evade intermediary obligations while retaining protection from liability for third-party content.

The Centre cited the Supreme Court's recent Ranveer Allahabadia case observations to argue that even the apex court recognised problems posed by unlawful content on social media and the importance of intermediaries' due diligence obligations.

In its statement of objections filed before the Karnataka high court, a copy of which HT has seen, the Centre has sought dismissal of X's petition with exemplary costs. Justice M Nagaprasanna heard the matter briefly, with solicitor general Tushar Mehta representing the Centre and senior advocate KG Raghavan appearing for X. The short hearing was adjourned for April 3.