Elon Musk-owned X has moved to court against the Indian government, questioning its reliance on the Information Technology (IT) Act to censor content on the platform. The lawsuit, which was filed in the Karnataka High Court on Thursday, contends that the government is indulging in illegal content regulation and arbitrary censorship.
X Raises Questions About Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act
X’s legal appeal challenges the government’s reading of the IT Act, specifically its use of Section 79(3)(b). The micro-blogging site asserts that this provision is being abused to provide an alternative content-blocking mechanism outside the legal framework laid down under Section 69A of the Act.
Section 69A allows the government to order content removal for such reasons as national security, public order, or sovereignty. This provides an obvious legal directive for companies. Section 79(3)(b), according to the government’s reading, grants platforms the obligation to determine which content is illegal. X argues that this creates legal uncertainty, leading companies to self-censor to avoid lawsuits and public backlash.
X References Supreme Court’s Shreya Singhal Case
X’s grievance alleges that the government’s present course ignores the Supreme Court’s precedent in its 2015 landmark judgment in the Shreya Singhal case. The judgment had set out that content could only be blocked by a valid judicial procedure or by way of the legally ordained path of Section 69A. In availing of content take-downs under Section 79(3)(b), X alleges that the government is extending this precedent beyond its limits.
Impact on Social Media Companies
Social networking websites have long grumbled about Section 79(3)(b) due to its vague wording. It is alleged by businesses that it puts too much of an onus upon them to monitor and remove billions of messages daily, hence leading to over-censorship and chilling of free speech. The vagueness surrounding what constitutes “knowledge” of prohibited material makes websites vulnerable to prosecution.
Additionally, X has declined to be part of the government’s Sahyog portal, an initiative created by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The portal is used for direct coordination between law enforcement agencies and social media platforms for removal requests. X accuses the portal of being a “censorship tool,” coercing firms to delete content without legal scrutiny.
X Seeks Judicial Intervention
With its suit, X is hoping to clarify legal parameters on content control in India so as to block unwarranted interference by the government in what can be discussed on the web. The company firmly insists that take-downs must, therefore, happen through a clear, legal, and transparent procedure in order to safeguard freedom of expression and digital rights.
