New Delhi: In a major legal battle, Elon Musk-owned social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court, challenging the Indian government’s alleged misuse of Section 79(3) of the Information Technology Act. X claims the provision is being used to create an unlawful, parallel content-blocking system, bypassing legal safeguards under Section 69A of the IT Act.
According to a Hindustan Times report, X argued that this approach contradicts the Supreme Court’s 2015 Shreya Singhal ruling, which mandates that content takedowns must follow due legal procedures. The platform contends that the Modi government is arbitrarily using Section 79(3)(b) to remove content without oversight, stripping intermediaries of their “safe harbour” protections if they fail to comply.
The lawsuit also raises concerns over the government’s Sahyog portal, which X has dubbed a “Censorship Portal.” The platform claims the government is pressuring it to appoint an employee on the portal, which facilitates takedown orders from state authorities without legal scrutiny. X argues that this move could set a dangerous precedent for unchecked censorship in India.
Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has reportedly begun discussions with X following controversies surrounding its AI chatbot, Grok. The chatbot has been under scrutiny for using Hindi slang and allegedly generating offensive, politically charged responses. The government is investigating how these responses were produced and whether regulatory action is required.
Mitolyn Good post! We will be linking to this partspacelarly great post on our site. Keep up the great writing