An Indian court has dismissed a case filed by Elon Musk's X against a government portal that it had argued was being used to arbitrarily censor content on the platform.
A single-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court ruled that X's challenge against the Sahyog portal, run by the federal home ministry, was 'without merit'. The full order has not been made public yet.
X has not stated if it will appeal against the order.
The dismissal marks the second case in just over two years that X has lost while challenging the Indian government's powers to block or take down content, leaving free speech and digital rights experts worried. X is estimated to have around 25 million users in India.
Technology policy researcher Prateek Waghre described the order as 'worrisome', highlighting that it legitimizes various government agencies indirectly sending takedown orders to social media companies.
The case was filed in March against Sahyog, which claims to automate the process of sending government notices to content intermediaries like X and Facebook.
While other tech giants like Google and Meta have participated in Sahyog, X has been more resistant, calling it a 'censorship portal' that enables officials to bypass rules requiring transparency and review opportunities.
If social media companies don't comply with takedown requests within 36 hours, they risk losing protections that shield them from being held accountable for user-generated content.
The Indian government has defended Sahyog, arguing that it's necessary due to an increase in unlawful social media content.
The Karnataka judge noted that social media cannot be left in a 'state of anarchic freedom' and emphasized the need for regulation, labeling the Sahyog portal a 'public good'.
Over the years, X has been the only platform to consistently challenge the Indian government's content blocking measures, which many legal experts find opaque. In a previous ruling, the Karnataka High Court imposed a fine on X for delays in complying with government orders.
