An Indian court has dismissed a case filed by Elon Musk’s platform X. The company had challenged a government portal it said was used to censor content.
A single judge of the Karnataka High Court ruled that X’s challenge against the Sahyog portal was “without merit”. The full ruling has not yet been released.
X has not confirmed whether it will appeal the decision.
A second defeat for Musk’s platform
This dismissal marks the second legal setback for X in India in just over two years. The company had already lost an earlier case over content blocking powers. Experts in digital rights now fear growing restrictions on free speech.
X counts around 25 million users in India. Technology policy researcher Prateek Waghre called the ruling “worrisome”. He said it legitimised direct takedown orders from government agencies to social media companies. He stressed the true impact would only be clear once the full judgement is published.
X’s legal team declined to comment further. India’s home and information technology ministries have not responded to requests for statements.
Why X challenged the portal
The platform filed the case in March against Sahyog, operated by the federal home ministry. The portal automates the process of sending takedown notices to intermediaries such as X and Facebook.
While Google, Amazon and Meta joined Sahyog last year, X refused. In its petition, the company described Sahyog as a “censorship portal”. It argued the system sidestepped rules requiring hearings and review procedures.
X claimed the portal empowered “countless” officials, including thousands of local police officers, to issue removal orders without oversight. In July, one of X’s lawyers criticised the system, saying “every Tom, Dick, and Harry officer” could demand takedowns. The government’s counsel objected to that remark.
If intermediaries fail to comply within 36 hours, they risk losing safe harbour protection. Without this status, companies could be held liable for user content.
Government defends tougher regulation
The Indian government defended Sahyog as a response to growing volumes of harmful online material. Officials insisted the portal only informed platforms of unlawful content, rather than issuing direct blocking orders.
The Karnataka judge dismissed X’s case on Wednesday. He argued social media could not remain in “a state of anarchic freedom”. He added that “regulation is a must” and described Sahyog as a “public good”.
The judge also noted that X complies with takedown rules in the United States. He questioned why the company refused to follow similar orders in India.
Global context of takedown laws
The court referred to the Take It Down Act passed in the US earlier this year. This law criminalises publishing intimate images without consent and forces platforms to remove such content within 48 hours. X has publicly supported this law.
When X filed its petition, digital rights experts warned that Sahyog had triggered “a wholesale increase in censorship”. Court filings showed government agencies had demanded removals of diverse content. These ranged from videos of a deadly crush in Delhi to posts allegedly harming the reputation of senior political leaders.
The long battle between X and India
X remains the only platform challenging India’s opaque blocking mechanisms. Legal experts often describe these mechanisms as arbitrary.
In 2022, before Musk acquired X, the company fought several takedown orders. A year later, the Karnataka High Court ruled against X and fined it 5 million rupees for delayed compliance.
That earlier appeal remains pending. With this latest ruling, the platform faces another major setback in its battle over free expression in India.
