Musk’s X sues India’s Modi government over ‘unrestrained censorship’
Elon Musk’s X has filed a lawsuit against the Indian government, claiming that the information technology ministry is unlawfully expanding laws that allow for the easy removal of online content and "unrestrained censorship" on the social media platform.
The lawsuit, filed in a court in the southern state of Karnataka on Thursday, challenges the Narendra Modi government’s interpretation of the Information Technology Act, News.Az reports citing The Independent.
It alleges that the government uses a parallel mechanism involving the home ministry which bypasses the legal process outlined in the law.
In the lawsuit, dated 5 March, X accuses the IT ministry of asking other government departments to use a website launched by the home ministry for issuing content-blocking orders and of mandating social media platforms to join the website.
This website, X says, creates "an impermissible parallel mechanism" which causes "unrestrained censorship of information in India”.
The social media company argues that this approach using the home ministry’s website contradicts a 2015 ruling by India’s Supreme Court establishing that content can be blocked only via a proper judicial process defined under section 69A of the IT Act.
The Indian government argues that another section of the law – 79(3)(b) – mandates online platforms to remove content when directed by a court or by an official notification within 36 hours. Social media companies can be held accountable for refusing to comply.
X challenges this interpretation, arguing in the lawsuit that this section does not give power to the government to independently block content.
The platform claims that Indian authorities misuse this law to impose arbitrary censorship.
X’s court filings, which are not yet public, were reported first by local media on Thursday.
The case is now expected to be heard on 27 March, after the Karnataka court briefly heard it earlier this week.
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