‘How can court stop this’: SC refuses to entertain PIL against ‘communal’ hashtags trending on Twitter

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to entertain a petition seeking direction to stop illegal trending of various hashtags on Twitter, attaching religion to the COVID-19 pandemic and said it was akin to asking MTNL to stop people talking wrong things on phone. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said: “How can the court stop this? You are saying people are saying wrong things on Twitter.”

A petition was filed by advocate Khaja Aijazuddin seeking directions from the apex court to government to direct Twitter to stop the illegal trending of hashtags on the social network under the name #Islamiccoronavirusjihad, #Coronajihad, #Tablighi jamat, #Nizamuddinidiots, #TablighiJamatVirus.

The petitioner argued that these messages were attaching the religion to pandemic disease, and this was unwarranted, illegal and unconstitutional.… The court observed that we can’t issue such pre-emptive directions.