New Delhi, Sep 25: The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Elon Musk’s social media platform X against the Indian government’s Sahyog portal, which the company had described as a “censorship platform,” BBC reported.
A single-judge bench ruled on Wednesday that X’s case was “without merit,” adding that social media could not be “left in a state of anarchic freedom” and that “regulation is a must.” The court also called the Sahyog portal a “public good.” The full judgment has not yet been made public.
The ruling marks the second time in just over two years that X has lost a legal challenge against India’s content-blocking powers. The platform, which has around 25 million users in the country, has not said whether it will appeal the decision. X had approached the court in March, arguing that Sahyog allowed “countless” officials, including “tens of thousands of local police officers,” to issue takedown orders arbitrarily, without mandated hearings or reviews. In July, its lawyer told the court this meant “every Tom, Dick, and Harry officer [was] authorised” to remove content — a remark contested by government lawyers.
The government defended the portal as a tool to streamline communication with platforms about unlawful or harmful content, not as a mechanism for blocking. It said Sahyog was necessary given the “growing volume” of problematic material online. While other major US tech companies, including Google, Meta and Amazon, have joined the portal since its launch last year, X has refused. Court filings showed that various authorities have used Sahyog to request removal of content ranging from videos of a fatal crowd crush in Delhi to posts allegedly “harming the reputation” of senior political leaders.
The judge also drew a comparison with the United States, where X has supported the Take It Down Act requiring swift removal of non-consensual intimate images. He noted that while X “chooses to follow” takedown orders in the US, it “refuses to follow similar takedown orders in India.” Prateek Waghre, a technology policy researcher, told the BBC the ruling was “worrisome” as it “legitimised the act of various government agencies directly sending takedown orders to social media companies.” He said the “full import” of the order would be clearer once the judgment was released. X’s legal team declined to comment, while India’s home and IT ministries have yet to respond. The company, formerly Twitter, has been the only major platform to challenge India’s takedown rules. In 2022, before Musk’s takeover, it contested several blocking orders but lost the case in 2023, when the Karnataka High Court also fined it 5m rupees for delays in compliance. That appeal remains pending.
