HC junks X plea against portal

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed X Corp's petition challenging the Union government's Sahyog portal, holding that social media content cannot be left unregulated in the name of free speech and that the system represents a legitimate tool for ensuring digital accountability.

- Ayesha Arvind

Justice M Nagaprasanna rejected X’s arguments as “devoid of merit” and described the portal asan “instrument of public good” that servesasa “beacon of cooperation” between citizens and social media intermediaries in combating cybercrime.

"Sahyog portal, far from being Constitutional anathema, in its truth is an instrument of public good conceived under the authority of Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and Rule 3(d) of the 2021 Rules,” Justice Nagaprasanna said. “To assail its validity is to misunderstand its purpose.”

The judgment delivers a significant blow to X’s months-long legal challenge and validates the government's content regulation system that 38 other intermediaries, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Telegram, have already joined.

The court issued a sharp warning to foreign social media companies, stating they cannot treat the Indian marketplace as a “playground” where information is disseminated “in defiance of the law’ and later disowned through “a posture of detachment.”

Any platform operating within India’s jurisdiction must accept that access is a “privilege tied to responsibility and accountability,” the court emphasised, adding that none can claim exemption from the country’s legal framework.