Elon Musk's X sues Centre over alleged censorship via IT Act, Sahyog Portal

Tech billionaire Elon Musk-owned social media firm X has filed a lawsuit against the Government of India in the Karnataka High Court, accusing the Centre of enforcing unlawful content regulation and arbitrary censorship, reported news agency PTI.

The company reportedly raised concerns over the government’s interpretation of the Information Technology (IT) Act, which 'X' argues violates Supreme Court rulings and undermines free expression online.

In its filing, X alleged that the Indian government is misinterpreting Section 79(3)(b) to establish a parallel content-blocking mechanism that bypasses the structured legal process outlined under Section 69A of the IT Act.

The company argued this approach contravenes the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 ruling in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, which mandated that content can only be restricted through a judicial process or the defined procedure under Section 69A.

The lawsuit also targets the government’s Sahyog portal, launched by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs to streamline takedown requests. X has refused to integrate an employee into the portal, terming it a "censorship tool" that pressures companies to remove content without proper legal review.

The Karnataka High Court has yet to schedule a hearing date for the case.

According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Section 79(3)(b) requires online platforms to remove illegal content within 36 hours of receiving a court order or government notification.

If a platform fails to comply, it risks losing its safe harbour protection under Section 79(1) and could be held accountable under various laws, including the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

X contends that this provision does not empower the government to independently order content removal, accusing authorities of exploiting it to impose censorship without due process.