X Sues India Over 'Censorship' Via Sahyog Portal, IT Act

Elon Musk’s X platform (formerly Twitter) has reportedly filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court against the Indian government, claiming that its usage of the IT Act and the ‘Sahyog Portal’ constitutes an “unlawful and unregulated" censorship mechanism that is in violation of statutory safeguards.

The social media platform has argued that the Indian government was misusing Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act to issue takedown orders that do not adhere to the procedures under Section 69A, which the Supreme Court recognised as the only valid legal framework for blocking online content, according to its petition.

X claims that Section 69A allows content to be blocked only for specific reasons, such as protecting national security, and requires a review process. In contrast, Section 79(3)(b) has no clear rules and allows authorities to block content without proper checks. The company warned that this could lead to widespread censorship in India.

X says that these actions are hurting its business in India. The company says it depends on users being able to share lawful information, and fears that random blocking orders will damage its platform and user trust.

At a hearing on March 17, Justice M Nagaprasanna asked X to return to court if the government takes any serious action against the company. For now, the government has said no punitive steps have been taken against X for refusing to join the Sahyog portal.

The next hearing has been set for March 27. Notably, this is not the first time that X has taken legal action against the Indian government. In 2022, the platform challenged takedown orders issued under Section 69A, arguing that the government’s directives violated free speech protections and lacked transparency.