India / Andhra Pradesh High Court asks Twitter why it should not be shut down

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday slammed social media platform Twitter for defying its orders to remove objectionable content. Along with this, the High Court has asked to show reasons why it should not be closed on this issue.

A bench of High Court Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice M Satyanarayana Murthy on Monday said that Twitter's inaction in complying with the order amounted to contempt of court. The bench asked the micro blogging platform to explain why criminal proceedings should not be initiated against it.

The court has fixed February 7 for the next hearing of the matter. The court directed Twitter to file an affidavit in this regard by this date. Earlier, during the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for CBI, submitted that the social media platform is not cooperating in removing the objectionable material from its platform.

To this, the bench sought to know from Twitter why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. YouTube's advocate said that they have complied with the court's orders but some media television houses are still running the same on their tube channel.

The High Court has made it clear that the matter should not be suppressed citing technical reasons. The bench said, "During the last hearing, we had clearly ordered that the objectionable material should be removed immediately. Failure to do so amounts to contempt of court. If you want to continue your services then you have to respect the law of this land, otherwise you close your 'shop'.

The High Court is taking suo motu cognizance of objectionable material being posted on various social media platforms against the court by members and supporters of the ruling YSR Congress. The CBI is investigating the matter and several persons have been arrested in this connection.