Elon Musk-led X sparked outrage in court on Tuesday after a lawyer took a swipe at government officials amid an ongoing content moderation clash. The remarks were made during a hearing on the US firm’s challenge to a government-run website it says is a “censorship portal” that allows officials to issue content removal orders. New Delhi says the website is only to swiftly notify companies of their due diligence obligations.
During the court hearing, X’s lawyer, K. G. Raghavan, said it recently received a notice from the railways department to remove a video in which a car was being driven on a railway track. That was news, but the government found it unlawful, he told the court.
“What if every Tom, Dick and Harry officer sends notice to me. See how this is being misused. Some women drove a car on the railway track. Milords knows dog biting man is not news, but man biting dog is news. Photos/videos were put up on social media, can that be unlawful content in this country today?” said senior Advocate K G Raghavan while appearing for the company.
“I take objection to this, they are officers and not tom, dick and harry. They are statutory functionaries, empowered to take action. International bodies should not have this arrogance. No social media intermediary can expect completely unregulated functioning. They are bound by regulations in all other countries but in India they want this luxury,” came the furious rejoinder from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
X has long been at loggerheads with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over content removal requests. India is a critical growth market for X owner Musk, who is getting closer to launching his other key ventures, Starlink and Tesla, in the country.