Karnataka High Court dismisses Twitter's plea against Indian govt, imposes ₹50 lakh fine

The Karnataka High Court dismissed a petition filed by Twitter challenging the Indian government's directive to take down 39 URLs and imposed a cost of ₹50 lakhs on the social media platform. Twitter argued that the government cannot issue general orders to block social media accounts without providing reasons, while the government argued that Twitter has no locus standi and cannot speak on behalf of account holders. The court upheld the government's power to direct Twitter to block tweets and accounts and stated that Twitter did not provide timely reasons for non-compliance. The court imposed a cost of ₹50 lakhs on Twitter, with an additional cost of ₹5000 per day for delay in payment.