Websites holding jihadi promotion and other objectionable material required to be blocked in public interest and for safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity of the nation, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Thursday.
The Centre's answer came as it contested the arguments of INTERNET service suppliers which had told that such actions by the government breached their rights., BJP's IT Cell National Head Arvind Gupta also said the websites have been blocked on the advice of ATS as they were carrying material from the ISIS.
The Centre said section 69A of the Informational Technology Act, which authorizes it to block such sites, was needed as there were several websites which resorted to “blackmail“ schemes by publishing objectionable material and rejected to remove them.
“Facebook, Google, twitter are responsible intermediaries but there are many lesser known intermediaries which are resorting to blackmail tactics by posting offensive articles and photos. People visit their sites out of curiosity and they get many hits which bring revenue to them. They are also reluctant to remove them as it would hit their business,“ additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta told the court.
