BENGALURU: X has lost its battle against India’s content regulators. The Karnataka high court today rejected a petition by Elon Musk’s social-media company challenging the government’s authority to issue information-blocking orders.
“Social media needs to be regulated, and its regulation is a must, more so in cases of offences against women,” declared justice M. Nagaprasanna. The court warned that without proper oversight, citizens’ constitutional right to dignity would be “railroaded.”
X, formerly Twitter, had argued that only specific provisions of the Information Technology Act gave officials the power to block content. The company wanted a declaration that section 79(3)(b) of the 2000 act did not empower government officers to issue such orders. Instead, it claimed only section 69A, combined with 2009 blocking rules, provided the proper legal framework.
The platform also sought to avoid joining the government’s Sahyog portal, a compliance mechanism for social-media companies.
After months of hearings that concluded in late July, justice Nagaprasanna delivered a stinging rebuke to X’s American-style free-speech arguments. “Information and communication has never been left unchecked and unregulated,” he noted. “American judicial thought cannot be transplanted into the soil of Indian constitutional thought.”
The Centre had opposed X’s petition, arguing that unlawful content deserved less constitutional protection than legitimate speech. The ruling reinforces India’s increasingly assertive approach to regulating global tech platforms, requiring them to comply with local content standards regardless of their corporate preferences.
The decision comes as India tightens its grip on social media, with companies facing mounting pressure to remove content deemed harmful to public order or national security.