New Delhi: The central government has strongly objected to Elon Musk’s social media platform X’s characterization of the “Sahyog” portal as a censorship tool while calling the claim “unfortunate” and “condemnable.”
In a detailed response submitted before the Karnataka High Court, the government defended its information-blocking framework, countering X Corp’s legal challenge.
The social media platform X has argued that the government is misusing Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act to issue blocking orders without following the safeguards outlined under Section 69A and its associated rules.
The company claimed that the Center’s strategy avoids judicial review, citing the Supreme Court’s decision in the Shreya Singhal case.
The government did clarify, however, that while Section 79(3)(b) merely lays out intermediary obligations, Section 69A expressly permits content-blocking under specific circumstances with sufficient safeguards.
The Centre argued that X had wrongly equated blocking orders under Section 69A with notices under Section 79(3)(b), despite the Supreme Court previously distinguishing between the two provisions.
Defending the “Sahyog” portal, the centre then emphasized that it serves as a structured mechanism for facilitating coordination between intermediaries and law enforcement agencies in tackling unlawful online content.
“Labeling Sahyog as a censorship tool is misleading. X Corp is wrongfully portraying itself as a content creator rather than an intermediary,” the government said, calling the claim made by the social media giant “deeply regrettable and unacceptable.”
The government further asserted that X, previously known as Twitter, as a foreign commercial entity, has no fundamental right to host or defend third-party content.
Citing a previous ruling by the Karnataka High Court in a similar case involving the social media platform, it reiterated that Articles 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution do not apply to the American microblogging company.
However, by reinforcing this legal stance, the Centre dismissed allegations of government overreach, maintaining that India’s information-blocking framework remains distinct and well-defined.
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