Kerala High Court seeks Centre’s views on plea to ban Telegram app

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

BENGALURU: The High Court of Kerala sought the views on the Central Government on Friday on a recent plea to ban Russian encrypted messaging app Telegram in the country for allegedly promoting child abuse videos and terrorism.

The matter will be heard after three weeks.

The direction by Kerala HC came after Athena Solomon K, a student of the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru approached the Court on Tuesday seeking to ban Telegram, saying the app was used to circulate obscene content of women and children on a large scale and remained unregulated in the country. She said the platform was a channel for communication for terrorists and criminals.

Telegram message sent to its media contact remained unanswered.

India has seen a surge in legal cases and public interest litigations against technology platforms as the government takes time to finalise amendments to intermediary guidelines aimed at making platforms more accountable for the content posted on them by users. The draft guidelines mandate traceability on encrypted apps.

Last month, the Supreme Court asked the Central government file an affidavit regarding framing of guidelines to prevent misuse of social media platforms by balancing the interests of online privacy and state sovereignty.

As per Solomon’s plea in Kerala HC, Telegram is distinct from other social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in terms of the degree of anonymity that the user enjoys.

The petitioner also said while the Information Technology Act mandates removal of content on directions of authorities, Telegram does not have nodal officer in India nor does it have a registered office. Therefore, it is not possible to enforce intermediary liability on Telegram, she claimed.

The petitioner also said the highly encrypted nature of the messaging app makes it ‘nearly impossible’ to trace the messages back to the originator of criminal content.

The petition also pointed out that three women committed suicide this year alone, after objectionable videos of them, recorded without their consent, were circulated through the app. It is also noted that the app grew in popularity following the Central Government’s decision to block pornography sites, suggesting that such content is readily accessible on Telegram.