Supreme Court orders Meta to restore AAP Gujarat social media accounts

The Supreme Court on Monday directed Meta to restore the Instagram and Facebook accounts of the Aam Aadmi Party's Gujarat wing. A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe passed the order on an interim application filed by AAP, which said the accounts were blocked on April 24, a day before local body elections in the state. The court allowed the restoration subject to removal of any objectionable posts, and posted the main matter for hearing after two weeks.

Barandbench reports that AAP argued the blocking direction was never supplied to the party and that the accounts were blocked without notice, hearing or a reasoned order. The party contended that blocking an entire political party's social media presence instead of restricting specific content was a disproportionate restriction on political speech. The Federal adds that AAP questioned the legal basis for the suspension, arguing that Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act is a safe harbour provision for intermediaries and not a source of power for authorities to order blocking of information.