New Delhi: Microblogging platform X plans to challenge the recent Karnataka High Court ruling, regulating its content, along with other social media platforms in the Supreme Court.
The High Court had upheld the Government of India’s content takedown effort. X has warned that this would enable millions of police officers across India to issue arbitrary directives for content removal.
In a post on the platform, X described the ruling as “deeply concerning,” adding that it would defend free expression in India.
“X is deeply concerned by the recent order from the Karnataka court in India, which will allow millions of police officers to issue arbitrary takedown orders through a secretive online portal called the Sahyog. This new regime has no basis in the law, circumvents Section 69A of the IT Act, violates Supreme Court rulings, and infringes Indian citizens’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression,” X posted.
“The Sahyog enables officers to order content removal based solely on allegations of “illegality,” without judicial review or due process for the speakers, and threatens platforms with criminal liability for non-compliance,” it added.
“X respects and complies with Indian law, but this order fails to address the core constitutional issues in our challenge and is inconsistent with the Bombay High Court’s recent ruling that a similar regime was unconstitutional. We respectfully disagree with the view that we have no right to raise these concerns because of our incorporation abroad—X contributes significantly to public discourse in India and the voice of our users is at the heart of our platform. We will appeal this order to defend free expression,” X said.
Sahyog is an online portal that allows police officials to file takedown orders citing “illegality,” without judicial review or prior notice to the affected users. X argued that the mechanism threatens platforms with criminal liability for non-compliance and undermines due process.
The Karnataka High Court, however, dismissed X’s petition that challenged the Centre’s orders to block specific accounts and posts. The bench observed that regulation of social media was “the need of the hour,” stating: “Social media companies cannot be allowed to work unregulated in India. Every company seeking to operate here needs to know this.”
The Bench also observed that the Constitutional protections for free speech under Article 19 are available only to Indian citizens, not foreign corporations. “Article 19 remains the charter of rights for citizens only. The protective embrace of Article 19 cannot be invoked by those who are not citizens,” the court ordered.
“American jurisprudence cannot be transported to Indian judicial thought process.” The bench said, adding that the expressed concerns about the role of algorithms in shaping public opinion, asking whether the “menace of social media” needed stricter regulation.
