X Corp (formerly Twitter) has filed a writ appeal before the Karnataka High Court against a single judge Bench's recent decision to uphold the legality of the Central government’s Sahyog portal - an online platform used to issue content takedown orders to online intermediaries like X [X Corp v. Union of India].
The appeal was filed yesterday (November 14) and is currently under scrutiny by the registry of the Court. It is expected to be listed before a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court.
X Corp had challenged the Sahyog portal mechanism on the ground that it circumvents due process requirements under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act), and violates safeguards laid down in the Shreya Singhal case, when it comes to regulating or directing the blocking of online content.
The petition was filed following multiple takedown orders issued by the Union Ministry of Railways in relation to posts about a recent stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. X sought a declaration that Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act - under which the portal has been set up - does not authorise content blocking.
However, on September 24 this year, a single-judge Bench comprising Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed X Corp's plea. Justice Nagaprasanna opined that X Corp cannot claim any violation of free speech under Article 19 of the Constitution since the same is available only to Indian citizens.
"Article 19 is luminous in its promise but remains a charter of rights conferred upon citizens only. A petitioner who is not a citizen cannot claim sanctuary under it," the Court said.
It also took exception to the conduct of X Corp in refusing to comply with the laws in India.
"The petitioner’s platform is subject to a regulatory regime in the United States, its birthplace. Under the ‘take down’ law of that jurisdiction, it chooses to follow orders criminalising violations. Yet the same platform refuses to comply with take-down directions in this nation. This is sans countenance,” the single-judge said.
The Court further commented that social media cannot be left in a state of anarchic freedom.
"Social media as a modern amphitheatre of ideas cannot be left in a state of anarchic freedom,” the judgment said, adding that regulation of content was essential to safeguard dignity and prevent offences against women.
A few days after the judgment, X Corp took to its platform to convey that it will challenge the single-judge verdict.
In a tweet, the Global Government Affairs team of the social media platform said that the company was deeply concerned with the ruling as it would allow millions of police officers to issue arbitrary takedown orders through a "secretive online portal."