Elon Musk’s social media platform – X (erstwhile Twitter) – said that it is “deeply concerned” with the Karnataka court order that greenlights a new content takedown system and “respectfully disagrees” with it. It also said that it would “appeal the order” and “defend free expression”.
‘This regime has no basis in the law’
Posting through the Global Government Affairs account, the platform said, “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.”
It said that the ruling has no grounds legally: “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.”
The portal empowers police in India to issue take-down orders for posts they deem “illegal” without any recourse. “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.”
X “respectfully disagrees” with HC order
The platform said that while it “complies with Indian law”, it “respectfully disagrees” with the order. The platform also quoted a similar Bombay High Court ruling, which tagged it “unconstitutional”.
“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,” the court said, before adding, “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.”
Why is this important?
Earlier, the Karnataka High Court dismissed a petition challenging the Sahyog portal filed by the platform
The court said that there is a need for regulation of social media content, and it cannot be left in a “state of anarchic freedom”. The court lauded the Sahyog portal as a valid “instrument of public good”.
Sahyog was launched in October 2024 by the Ministry of Home Affairs and is maintained by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre.