Petition in SC seeks probe into hateful posts on Twitter during Covid-19 first wave

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 5

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 Amid controversy over non-compliance of the government IT Rules by Twitter, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a CBI/NIA probe into alleged hateful and “Islamophobic”  posts on the social networking platform last year during the first wave of Covid-19.

Petitioner advocate Khaja Aijazuddin has challenged a Telangana High Court order refusing the pass any specific orders. The high court had asked the Centre to consider his representation for registering of an FIR against Twitter and its users posting communal and hateful messages.

He submitted that the high court was “unjustified” as the alleged “Islamophobic” posts hurting the feelings of a particular community amounted to a criminal offence under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

An independent probe by the CBI or the NIA should be ordered into the alleged inflammatory posts, he demanded.

No steps were taken by the authorities to register a complaint against Twitter despite the criminal nature of the alleged posts, Aijazuddin contended.

He urged the court to direct the Centre to frame guidelines under the Information Technology Act, 2000, to deal with hate messages against any religious community on social media platforms.