When Elon Musk’s company ‘X’ sued the Indian government, the Centre advised it to follow the law
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Elon Musk’s company X (formerly Twitter) has filed a case in the Karnataka High Court against the Government of India. In this case, X has challenged illegal content regulation and arbitrary censorship. X argues that this rule violates the decisions of the Supreme Court and undermines free expression online.
According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Section 79(3)(b) directs online platforms to remove illegal content through a court order or government notification. If a platform fails to comply within 36 hours, it can be held accountable under Section 79(1) and under various laws including the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This rule is designed to make online platforms accountable for removing illegal content and helps ensure that online content complies with legal and ethical standards.
X has opposed the government’s interpretation, saying that this provision does not give the government an independent right to block content. Instead, X has alleged that the government is abusing the law to impose arbitrary censorship without following due process. X believes that this provision gives the government excessive power to control content and undermines freedom of expression online.
At the same time, after Elon Musk’s company X filed a lawsuit against the central government, the government has clarified that it will follow due process and expect social media platforms to follow the law. A top government source has given this information that the government will take action as per the law and social media platforms will also have to follow the law.
