Kerala High Court seeks government responses on blocking of digital news platform's social media page

The Kerala High Court has reportedly sought responses from the Centre and the Kerala Government on whether an order was issued to a social media company to block the Facebook page of an independent Malayalam digital news platform. The petition alleges that the page was restricted under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, without disclosing the underlying order, identifying the specific unlawful content or providing an opportunity to challenge the action. The case raises questions about transparency and procedural safeguards in content-blocking actions under the IT Act and the IT Rules, 2021. The key issue is whether affected users must be informed of the underlying order and its basis to enable an effective legal challenge.