Facebook Parent Meta says not to leave public function in responding to petition in Delhi High Court
Social media platform Facebook (Now Meta) on Thursday submitted its response to the Delhi High Court on a lawsuit regarding the suspension of social media accounts.
Meta states that it is a private entity and does not perform a public function and therefore the jurisdiction of the High Court cannot be invoked against it. Meta opposes the petition and seeks to dismiss the petition without delving into its outcome.
An affidavit filed on behalf of Meta states that the petitioner improperly invoked the jurisdiction of this court.
The affidavit filed on the matter of Wokeflix states that Meta is under no obligation to perform a public obligation and that the Government has no control over its management and day-to-day operations.
It was also announced that the petitioner’s Instagram account was reactivated within 72 hours of being deactivated. Meta provided an opportunity to appeal the alleged actions taken against their account when they received a 30-day notice of appeal. Pre-action opportunity, as the petitioner claims, is contrary to the law, requiring an intermediary only to provide an opportunity to appeal after action has been taken, under Rule 4 (8 ) of Information Technology (Intermediate Guidelines and Code of Ethics for Digital Media) 2021.
The Supreme Court is hearing the petitions of Dimple Kaul, Suyash Deep Rai, Jasdeep Munjal, Wokeflix, Rachit Kaushik and Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde. The petitioners protested against actions to suspend their accounts by social media giants including Twitter, YouTube and others.
The petitioner called the action arbitrary and a violation of the law and the Constitution. Their complaint is that their account was suspended without a chance for a hearing.