Overview
- A Supreme Court bench, which issued notice Friday, asked the Centre and the Gujarat government to respond to AAP’s plea and linked the matter to a pending public-interest case on blocking without notifying users.
- AAP is challenging Meta’s April 25 suspension of its Gujarat unit’s Instagram and Facebook pages, which reports tied to alleged use of Gujarati film clips, while the party alleges the takedown was politically driven ahead of local polls.
- The petition argues Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act is only a safe‑harbour rule for platforms and not a power to order blocks, and says any restriction must follow Section 69A and the Constitution’s speech limits with reasons given in writing.
- Senior advocate Shadan Farasat pressed for urgent relief, saying the party’s official channels used for political outreach are inaccessible, as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said formal notice to the Centre might be unnecessary; the accounts had about 800,000 followers.
- By tagging the plea with the Software Freedom Law Centre case, the court set up a broader review that could yield uniform procedures on suspending political accounts, including requirements for prior notice, a hearing, and content‑specific actions.