The Karnataka High Court delivered a scathing rejection of Elon Musk’s X Corporation’s petition against content takedown orders. The ruling not only upheld the Union Government’s authority under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, but also drew sharp boundaries against the transplantation of American free speech doctrines into Indian constitutional thought.
Justice M Nagaprasanna’s verdict is an unambiguous assertion of sovereignty, “Unregulated speech under the guise of liberty becomes a licence to lawlessness.”
At the centre of the case was X Corp’s attempt to invoke Article 19(1)(a) the right to free speech and expression under the Indian Constitution. The High Court decisively shut the door on this line of argument, making it clear that fundamental rights belong only to Indian citizens.
“Noble in spirit and luminous in promise, Article 19(1)(a) remains nevertheless a charter of rights conferred upon citizens of this nation. A petitioner who seeks sanctuary under its canopy must be a citizen of India, failing which its protective embrace cannot be invoked,” Justice Nagaprasanna observed.
This reasoning strikes at the root of Big Tech’s strategy claiming the benefits of India’s constitutional guarantees while avoiding its obligations under statutory law.
The judgment delivered perhaps its hardest blow when it highlighted X Corp’s hypocrisy. In the United States, the company complies with content regulation under laws like the “Take It Down Act”, which criminalises non-compliance with takedown orders. But in India, the same platform brands similar regulations as unconstitutional censorship.
“The petitioner’s platform is subject to a regulatory regime in the United States, its birthplace and foot land. Under the Take It Down Act of the United States, it chooses to follow the said Act as it criminalises violation of take down orders. But the same petitioner refuses to follow the same on the shores of this nation of similar take down orders which are founded upon illegality. This is sans countenance,” the court held.
The message is blunt, India will not be treated as a “second-class sovereign” by corporations that pick and choose which jurisdictions to respect.
A major flashpoint in the case was the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Sahyog portal, launched in October 2024. The portal enables coordinated takedown of unlawful online content, particularly relating to cybercrime, offences against women, and national security. X Corp painted it as an unconstitutional tool of censorship. The High Court, however, called this portrayal baseless.
“Far from being a constitutional anathema, the Sahyog portal is an instrument of public good, conceived under the authority of Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and Rule 3(b) of the 2021 Rules. It stands as a beacon of cooperation between citizens and the intermediary a mechanism through which the State endeavours to combat the growing menace of cybercrime,” Justice Nagaprasanna ruled.
The court further warned platforms against adopting a “posture of detachment” after facilitating content that violates Indian law.
X Corp’s defence leaned heavily on the Supreme Court’s 2015 Shreya Singhal verdict, which had struck down Section 66A of the IT Act and limited blocking orders to the procedure laid down in Section 69A. But the High Court noted that the Shreya Singhal judgment was specific to the 2011 IT Rules a legal framework no longer in force.
“Shreya Singhal spoke of 2011 rules, now consigned to history. The 2021 Rules, fresh in their conception and distinct in their design, demand their own interpretative frame unsaddled by precedents that address the bygone regime,” Justice Nagaprasanna declared.
By affirming that the 2021 IT Rules must be interpreted independently, the court has effectively carved out a new jurisprudential space for India’s digital governance.
The ruling also dismantled the notion that US jurisprudence is the gold standard for free speech. While Reno v. ACLU (1997) had been the cornerstone of internet freedom in the West, Justice Nagaprasanna pointed out that even American courts have since diluted Reno’s absolutism.
“Every sovereign nation regulates social media. India’s resolve likewise cannot be branded unlawful,” the court said, rejecting any attempt to impose American norms on India’s legal system.
The judgment was not just about corporate compliance but also about protecting vulnerable groups. Justice Nagaprasanna explicitly noted that regulation becomes non-negotiable in cases of offences against women, linking the right to dignity enshrined in the Constitution with the need to curb digital lawlessness. “Regulation is a must, more so in cases of offences against women, failing which the right to dignity as ordained in the Constitution gets railroaded,” the court observed.
The Karnataka HC verdict has far-reaching consequences:
- Foreign corporations cannot invoke Indian fundamental rights to shield themselves from compliance.
- The 2021 IT Rules are valid and enforceable, independent of Shreya Singhal.
- Platforms must comply with Indian takedown orders, just as they comply with similar laws abroad.
- The Sahyog portal is legally valid and strengthens state capacity to fight cybercrime.
By firmly asserting that India’s legal and constitutional framework not Silicon Valley’s ideological biases will govern digital speech, the judgment sends a clear message: India’s marketplace is not a playground for global platforms to evade accountability.
In the West, especially after the Capitol Hill riots of 2021, platforms like X, Meta, and Google have tightened their content moderation to comply with domestic laws. Yet, when asked to follow Indian regulations, they often invoke “censorship” and mobilise international narratives about shrinking freedoms.
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