X Corp Appeals Karnataka High Court Ruling Upholding Centre’s Sahyog Takedown Portal
X Corp (earlier known as Twitter) has filed a writ appeal before the Karnataka High Court challenging a recent judgment that upheld the Central government’s Sahyog portal — the online system used to issue content takedown orders to platforms like X.
The appeal in X Corp v. Union of India was submitted on November 14 and is now being examined by the Court registry. It will soon be placed before a Division Bench.
Earlier, a single judge Bench had rejected X Corp’s petition questioning the legality of the Sahyog portal under the Information Technology Act, 2000. X had argued that the portal bypasses due process and the safeguards laid down in the Supreme Court’s Shreya Singhal ruling regarding content blocking.
The company approached the Court after receiving several takedown orders from the Ministry of Railways for posts related to a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station. X had sought a declaration that Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act does not permit the creation of such a blocking mechanism.
However, on September 24, Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed the plea. The Court held that X Corp cannot claim a violation of free speech under Article 19 because this constitutional right is available only to Indian citizens.
The judge also criticised X Corp for failing to follow Indian laws while complying with takedown requirements in the United States. The order further observed that social media cannot operate without reasonable regulation, especially when it concerns dignity, safety, and prevention of offences against women.
Soon after the verdict, X Corp publicly stated that it would challenge the decision, expressing concern that the judgment allows large numbers of police officers to issue takedown orders through what it called a “secretive online portal.”
