The Kerala High Court recently directed Meta to unblock the Facebook account of journalist N. Madhavankutty, observing that an entire social media account cannot be blocked for a few objectionable posts.
Justice Ziyadh Rahman directed the Meta grievance officer in charge of the case to enable Mr. Madhavankutty’s Facebook account. If any competent police officer under the Director General of Police, Vellayambalam, identified any objectionable content in Mr. Madhavankutty’s profile, the grievance officer could temporarily remove access to such content without affecting the operations of his account, the court said.
The petition was filed by Mr. Madhavankutty when his account was blocked by Facebook on instructions from the Kerala Police. The court held that if there was any objectionable content that affected the security of the State or against public interest, the police could issue instructions to block the same. But the police exceeded their powers by blocking the entire account.
Published – August 04, 2026 09:49 pm IST
