Global Takedowns Can Legitimize Practices Of Authoritarian Govts Which Don't Value Freedom Of Speech: 'X Corp' Tells Delhi High Court

X Corp. (formerly Twitter) has informed the Delhi High Court that global takedown orders set a “dangerous precedent” that could legitimise practices of authoritarian governments which do not fully value the rights to freedom of speech and access to information.

The social media entity has said that if courts in different countries can issue global blocking orders based on their local laws, it would result in a situation where the country with the most restrictive laws would dictate what content is available on the Internet.

“This would lead to a situation where the Internet displays only content that is allowed by the most restrictive country in the world. This cannot be allowed to happen,” X said further.

The submissions have been made in the affidavit filed by X in its appeal against a single judge's order of 2019 passing a global injunction and directing the social media platform as well as other intermediaries to take down defamatory content against Baba Ramdev.

The impugned order was passed by Justice Pratibha M Singh in October 2019, while considering the suit filed by the yoga guru, alleging that various defamatory remarks and information including videos, based on a book titled "Godman to Tycoon – the Untold Story of Baba Ramdev" are being disseminated over Facebook, Twitter, and Google.

The single judge had vide order dated 23rd October 2019 held that so long as either the uploading takes place from India or the information/data is located in India on a computer resource, Indian courts would have the jurisdiction to pass global injunctions.

In its written submissions, X Corp. has submitted that the single judge order should be set aside to the extent it directs global blocking. It has said that the impugned order erroneously relied on Section 79 of the IT Act as the source of power to direct the blocking of the alleged content in all other countries.

The affidavit also states that geo-blocking is a sufficient remedy because it ensures compliance with Indian law without violating international comity.

“Plaintiffs' argument that the alleged content can be accessed using technical circumvention tools i.e., virtual private networks (“VPNs”) cannot be a basis for a global takedown order. It is common knowledge that resorting to such means is cumbersome and requires sophisticated technical skills, which the majority of internet users do not possess. Thus, geo-blocking already prevents the average user from accessing the impugned content in India,” it adds.

Title: X Corp v. SWAMI RAMDEV & ORS