NEW DELHI: The Delhi HC on Monday ordered the restoration of two social media parody accounts on X Corp, while directing that posts flagged as objectionable remain temporarily blocked.
Justice Purushaindra Kaurav passed the order while hearing pleas filed by Prateek Sharma and Kumar Nayan, who operate the handles ‘DrNimoYadav’ and ‘Nher_who’, respectively. The petitions challenged blocking directions issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
X had withheld both accounts following the ministry’s communication directing the platform to block or restrict access after flagging their content.
“The alleged objectionable tweets stated in the blocking order be put under temporary blocking category. The petitioners’ accounts be restored. The Government of India is at liberty to monitor material and, if further objectionable content is posted, it may take recourse as per law,” the court said.
During the hearing, Sharma said his account was blocked in India on March 19 pursuant to a government order issued a day earlier. Sharma’s counsel argued the blocking caused loss of income. X said such orders were “excessive and disproportionate”.