Solicitor General of India (SG) Tushar Mehta on Friday told the Karnataka High Court that X had allowed the creation of a fake account in the name of the “Supreme Court of Karnataka" [X Corp v. Union of India and ors].
The SG used the example to highlight the perils of anonymity and lack of editorial accountability on social media platforms before a Bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna, who was hearing X Corp’s petition challenging the Centre’s “Sahyog” portal and the rule governing its creation.
The Sahyog portal is a platform set up by the Central government to inform online intermediaries about unlawful content, so that the same may be taken down.
SG Mehta today argued that the Sahyog portal was set up as a matter of administrative convenience, so that all online intermediaries can easily track notices from authorised officials regarding any unlawful content on their respective platforms. He added that this helps in ease of doing business, and questioned why X Corp was challenging this mechanism.
He argued that this was the least intrusive measure to check on unlawful content, adding that such new solutions are required to tackle the new problems presented with the evolution of the internet.
He also flagged concerns that it is very easy to create fraudulent social media accounts. To illustrate this point, he showed the Court a Twitter/ X page of an account that claimed to be the "Supreme Court of Karnataka."
"(There is an account) in the name of 'Supreme Court of Karnataka.' And it is a verified account by Twitter. And I can post anything in that and lakhs and lakhs of people who view that will say ‘Supreme Court of Karnataka’ has said this. I can remain anonymous or pseudonymous...We have not used it, because otherwise it comes in public domain. This is just to show there exists an account,” SG Mehta submitted, while displaying a screenshot to the Court.
Senior Advocate KG Raghavan, appearing for X Corp, strongly objected to this turn of events.
"I have objection to this. This is not to be put against me without even being put on record so I can say has it gone through my scrutiny process, what is the extent of scrutiny I can do."
He added that anonymity is a concern that is not unique to online publications. He also refuted the SG's allegation that X Corp had verified the fake "Supreme Court of Karnataka" account.
As today's hearing drew to a close, Raghavan also told the Court that X Corp has now suspended this account.
"Just to end on a good note, that account has been suspended, the 'Supreme Court of Karnataka' account. We are a responsible business house...If something comes from my learned friend, I have no difficulty...My instructions is that it is not even a verified account. Statement made was that it was gone through our filtration process, that was not true," he said.
Meanwhile, the SG questioned if X Corp's petition was even maintainable before the High Court. He argued that since X Corp is an artificial, foreign entity, it cannot claim that it has rights to Articles 19 (1)(a) (free speech and expression) or Article 21 (life and liberty) of the Constitution of India. He contended that X Corp's petition was not maintainable.
On merits, he argued that the Sahyog portal mechanism is only being used to inform intermediaries about unlawful content, leaving it up to the platform to decide whether to take down such content. He added that if the intermediary does not take down content, the only consequence is that it loses its "safe harbour" status.
He argued that since Twitter claims to be merely a platform without its own speech, it cannot invoke the right to freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a).
He also questioned the argument that the Centre's Sahyog mechanism had a chilling effect.
“Chilling effect is a word coined for a different purpose, but used at the drop of a hat when you have no other argument," he remarked.
In his written arguments, SG Mehta had contended that greatest threat to free speech not from government but from private oligopolies like X Corp.
The matter will be heard next on June 25, when X Corp is expected to make rejoinder submissions.
[Live Coverage]