Bengaluru: Elon Musk-owned social media platform X has filed a legal petition against the Indian government in Karnataka High Court challenging the way it uses Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act (IT Act) and claiming that the Sahyog Portal creates an unlawful and unregulated censorship mechanism that bypasses statutory safeguards and sets up an illegal system to block content online.
The legal challenge comes soon after the Central government asked X to clarify some of the responses generated by Grok, its AI chatbot.
In its petition, X Corp has contented that Section 69A allows content to be blocked only for specific reasons, like protecting national security, that too after a review process. However, section 79(3)(b) has no clear rules and allows authorities to block content without proper checks.
Sounding out a warning that this could lead to widespread censorship in India, X said that these actions are hurting its business in India.
X wants its users to be able to share lawful information, but the apprehension is that random blocking orders will damage the platform and user trust.
X Corp had sought legal recourse against the Indian government in 2022 as well. Musk’s company had then challenged takedown orders issued under Section 69A, arguing that the Centre’s directives lacked transparency and violated free speech protections.