After Pahalgam attack, govt ordered blocking of 10,500 X accounts; Musk’s company seeks legal clarity

Social media platform X revealed in court filings that the Indian government issued 62 emergency blocking orders during April and May 2024, targeting more than 12,000 URLs and 10,500 accounts. The disclosures, made in a July 7 submission to the Karnataka High Court, argue that the government’s current legal powers under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act are sufficient, especially during national security emergencies. The move came in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and India’s Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror bases across the border in Pakistan.

What do we know about the case?

Elon Musk‘s company, X, is challenging the government’s use of the Sahyog Portal and Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, contending that these allow parallel takedown mechanisms that lack the safeguards of Section 69A and the 2009 Blocking Rules. “If both S.69A and S.79(3)(b) empower blocking, then the same information can be blocked by two separate mechanisms,” the company said. “One with safeguards, and another without any. This is manifestly arbitrary and violates Article 14 of the Constitution.”

What X said?

X’s core argument is that Section 69A already provides adequate channels for ministries, states, and law enforcement agencies to request emergency content blocks. The use of additional tools such as the Sahyog Portal, X contends, expands censorship powers to thousands of officials without judicial oversight.

X also criticised Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, which enables executive officers across central ministries and state police departments to issue takedown orders. According to the platform, these orders are executed using standard templates issued by MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), bypassing necessary checks and balances.

Calling the dual blocking system unconstitutional, X stated it violates key principles such as fairness, separation of powers, and rule of law. The Karnataka High Court is set to hear the matter on July 11. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has yet to respond to X’s submission.