An Indian court has rejected a petition filed by Elon Musk’s platform X. The company argued that a government portal gave officials broad powers to censor content online.
A single judge of the Karnataka High Court ruled that X’s challenge to the Sahyog portal was “without merit”. The full judgement has not yet been published.
X has not said whether it will appeal the ruling.
X faces repeated defeats
This marks the second major legal setback for X in India in just over two years. The platform previously failed to challenge government orders to block content. Experts warn the decision could further restrict online free speech.
X has an estimated 25 million users in India. Technology researcher Prateek Waghre described the ruling as “worrisome”. He said it legitimised government agencies issuing direct takedown demands to platforms. He added that the full impact will only be known once the complete judgement is released.
X’s lawyers declined to comment. India’s home and information technology ministries have not issued statements.
Controversy around Sahyog
The case, filed in March, targeted Sahyog, a portal run by the federal home ministry. The system automates government notices to intermediaries such as X and Facebook.
Google, Amazon and Meta joined Sahyog after its launch last year. X refused. It called the portal a “censorship tool” and argued it bypassed safeguards such as hearings and review processes.
X said the portal allowed “countless” officials, including thousands of police officers, to issue takedowns without oversight. In July, one of its lawyers said it let “every Tom, Dick, and Harry officer” order removals. Government lawyers objected to the remark.
Platforms that fail to comply within 36 hours risk losing safe harbour protections. Without them, companies can be held responsible for user content.
Government defends the system
The Indian government said Sahyog was necessary to manage rising harmful content online. Officials insisted the portal only notified companies about unlawful material and did not block posts directly.
The Karnataka judge dismissed X’s claims. He said social media could not exist in “a state of anarchic freedom”. He called regulation essential and described Sahyog as a “public good”.
He also noted that X follows takedown rules in the United States. He questioned why the platform refused to comply with similar laws in India.
International context
The court cited the Take It Down Act, passed in the United States earlier this year. The law bans sharing intimate images without consent and requires platforms to remove them within 48 hours. X has publicly supported the legislation.
Digital rights experts warned that Sahyog had already led to “a wholesale increase in censorship”. Court documents showed removal requests covering videos of a deadly crowd crush in Delhi and posts accused of harming senior politicians’ reputations.
Ongoing legal struggle
X remains the only major platform challenging India’s content-blocking framework. Experts describe the system as opaque and arbitrary.
In 2022, before Musk acquired the platform, X contested multiple takedown orders. The following year, the Karnataka High Court ruled against it and fined the company 5 million rupees for delays in compliance.
That appeal is still pending. With this ruling, X faces another major obstacle in its ongoing fight for digital free speech in India.
