COVID-19: Telangana HC Issues Notice To Twitter On Communal Tweets

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday issued notices to Centre, state government along with social networking site Twitter seeking an explanation over the non-removal of posts which were allegedly linked to coronavirus spread to a particular community and to their religious event which was held in Nizamuddin in New Delhi on March.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen on Tuesday conducted a hearing over the PIL filed by advocate Khaja Aijazuddin against the micro-blogging site for allegedly trending posts related to the community and also community transmission of COVID-19.

Aijazuddin sought the HC's direction against Twitter to stop trending the communal tweets linking religion to the spread of COVID-19.

Even the petitioner urged the HC to register criminal cases against the social networking site and its users under Chapter XV-Offences relating to the religion of IPC and other relevant laws.

The petitioner urged the HC to direct the Telangana Home Secretary and Cabinet Secretary to restrict all social media networks from sharing any Islamophobic posts insulting the community.

He alleged that  #Tablighijamat, #Coronajihad, #Islamiccoronavirusjihad,  #TablighiJamatVirus and #Nizamuddinidiots were trending in the social media.

Hearing the pleas the HC directed the Twitter, centre and state government to provide an explanation and postponed the case's next hearing to July 20.