The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a case filed by Elon Musk’s social media platform X against India’s Sahyog portal. X had claimed the portal, run by the federal home ministry, allowed arbitrary censorship of content on its platform.
A single-judge bench ruled X’s petition was “without merit,” though the full order is not yet public. X has not confirmed if it will appeal the decision.
Experts say the ruling could strengthen government powers to issue takedown orders directly to social media companies. Technology policy researcher Prateek Waghre described the order as “worrisome,” noting its impact on free speech and digital rights.
X had refused to join Sahyog, unlike other tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Amazon. The platform argued that Sahyog lets “countless” officers issue content removal orders without hearings or review, bypassing normal procedures.
The judge, however, emphasized that social media cannot operate in “anarchic freedom” and called Sahyog a “public good.” She noted that while X follows similar takedown rules in the US, it resists them in India.
This dismissal marks the second loss for X in India over government content-blocking powers, highlighting ongoing concerns about censorship and regulation in the country.
