Supreme Court Issues Notice On AAP Plea Against Blocking Of Gujarat Unit’s Instagram, Facebook Accounts

The Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe tagged the matter with a pending public interest litigation filed by the Software Freedom Law Center, India (SFLC), which challenges the blocking of social media accounts and online content without prior notice to users.

Appearing for AAP, Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat argued that Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, cannot be used as a source of power to block online content or suspend accounts, since the provision merely deals with the loss of “safe harbour” protection available to intermediaries.

Farasat submitted that while the issues in the SFLC petition overlap with AAP’s case, they are not identical. Stressing the urgency of the matter, he told the Court that the party’s social media platform had already been taken down. “Today my portal is gone and I may need to post something in the interim,” he submitted.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union, stated that formal issuance of notice may not be necessary and requested that a copy of the petition be served on him directly.

The petition challenges the legal basis of the blocking directions allegedly issued to Meta for suspending AAP Gujarat’s Instagram and Facebook accounts. It seeks a declaration that Section 79(3)(b) is not an independent statutory source empowering authorities to direct blocking of information online.

Section 79 of the IT Act grants intermediaries immunity from liability for third-party content hosted on their platforms. Sub-section (3)(b) states that such protection would not apply if the intermediary, upon receiving actual knowledge through a court order or government notification about unlawful content, fails to remove or disable access to it expeditiously.

AAP has argued that the provision cannot be stretched into a substantive blocking mechanism, unlike Section 69A of the IT Act, which specifically empowers the government to block online information under limited grounds such as sovereignty, public order and national security.

The party has sought quashing of the alleged blocking directions issued by law enforcement authorities and has asked the Court to call for the records relating to those directions.

The plea further seeks a declaration that the blocking of the “@aapgujarat” accounts is arbitrary, unconstitutional and violative of free speech protections under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

AAP has also sought guidelines and procedural safeguards for blocking or suspending official social media accounts of registered political parties. It urged the Court to mandate prior notice, an opportunity of hearing and written reasons before such action is taken, strictly in accordance with Article 19(2) and Section 69A of the IT Act.