Unhealthy Curbs?

The legal battle between X Corp, formerly known as Twitter, and the Indian government is more weighty than it appears.

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At its core, it raises extremely pressing questions about free speech, government overreach, and the growing tendency of authorities to control digital spaces.

In the latest move, X Corp has moved the Karnataka High Court, challenging the way content-blocking orders are being issued. It has also vehemently opposed the government's new Sahyog portal, which it calls a 'censorship portal'.

As a matter of fact, under India's IT laws, the government can order the blocking of content under Section 69A of the IT Act, which comes with legal safeguards laid down by the Supreme Court in 2015. But X argues that in addition to following this process, authorities are also misusing Section 79(3)(b), which does not empower them to directly block content but only holds platforms accountable for failing to remove illegal posts.

The company believes this is a blatant attempt to bypass the legal safeguards that exist to prevent arbitrary censorship.