X, East has filed a petition against the Government of India in the Karnataka High Court against the Government of India, the way the Central Government has challenged the way to use Section 79 (3) (B) of the Information Technology Act (IT Act) to demand the removal of tweets and other materials on the alone Musk-owned website. The X claims that government officials in India are bypassing appropriate legal procedures and installing an illegal system to block the material online.

Based on the IT Act, platforms such as X may lose their legal protection, known as safe harbor, if they do not remove or block the content mentioned by government officials. However, X argues that this section does not allow government powers to block materials, and that the officer Section 69A – is misuse of safety measures to block a detailed process and material, as is determined by the Supreme Court of India in the 2015 Shreya Sinhala decision.

The X claims that Section 69A allows the material to be blocked only for specific reasons, such as protecting national security, and a review process is required. In contrast, Section 79 (3) (B) has no clear rule and allows authorities to block materials without appropriate checks. The company warned that this could lead to extensive censorship in India.

X says that these actions are harming their business in India. The company says it depends on users being able to share valid information, and fears that random blocked orders will damage its platform and user trusts.

X is also opposing the government’s push to join Shyhyog, a portal operated by the Cybercrime Coordination Center (I4C) of India, which is designed to manage the orders Section 79 (3) (B). The X has described Sahyog as a “censorship portal” and says that there is no legal basis for creating this system or forcing companies to appoint special authorities for it. The X clearly argued that it has followed the existing rules under the 2021 IT guidelines, which requires platforms to appoint complaints and compliance officers.

In a hearing on 17 March, Justice M Nagprasanna asked X to return to court whether the government takes any serious action against the company. For now, the government has said that no punitive steps have been taken against X to refuse to join the collaboration portal.

In its petition, X has also accused the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) of encouraging ministries, states and police to create a parallel system to block the material. As evidence, X shared examples of blocking orders from the Railway Ministry sent in February 2024.

Interestingly, this step from X to fight the Government of India in court also comes as other alone musk companies – Tesla and SpaceX – are demanding regulatory approval to start trade in India. While Tesla wants to sell electric cars in India, SpaceX is expecting Starlink Satellite Internet service to be introduced in India in partnership with Jio and Airtel.

– With the input of Sagai Raj