Twitter Fined 50 Lakhs: Karnataka high court rejects Twitter’s lawsuit against government, slaps Rs 50 lakh fine – Times of India

On Friday, the Karnataka High Court rejected Twitter’s appeal against the federal government’s orders to block tweets and accounts. Additionally, a fine of Rs 50 lakh has been imposed on Twitter.
The court noted that Twitter failed to give reasons for its delay in complying with the amendments to India’s IT rules, despite receiving notices, said the IT minister, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in a tweet.
Last year, Twitter filed a plea against the Indian government at Karnataka High Court in Bengaluru. The plea was filed before the takeover by Musk was complete. Twitter alleged that New Delhi had abused its power by ordering the company to remove several tweets from its platform in an arbitrary and disproportionate manner. Additionally, some of the block orders related to political content posted by official political party handles.
The judgement comes shortly after Twitter’s former CEO and co-founder, Jack Dorsey, made accusations against India during an interview that the government allegedly threatened to shut down the social media platform in the country.
Dorsey added that during the farmers’ protest, the government ordered to restrict accounts critical of handling farmer protests in 2021. However, the government denied these allegations and called them a “lie.”
Twitter has now decided to comply with the orders.
The minister for information technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, disagreed with Dorsey’s statements and accused him of trying to hide Twitter’s questionable past.
Twitter’s request to stay the order’s operation has been denied. The social media company had also received notices regarding non-compliance, which could result in 7 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine. However, the judge noted that the company did not comply, and the punishment did not deter them.
“You [Twitter] have not given any reason why you delayed compliance, more than a year of delay, then all of sudden you comply and approach the Court. You are not a farmer but a billion dollar company,” the bench said while pronouncing the verdict.