Social media must be regulated: Karnataka HC dismisses X Corp challenge to blocking orders

New Delhi: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition by X Corp, formerly Twitter, challenging the legality of the Central government’s Sahyog portal, an online platform designed to issue content takedown orders to intermediaries, according to Bar and Bench.

The court held that social media platforms cannot operate with complete freedom in India and that the online space requires regulation. It emphasised that no platform can treat the Indian market as a “mere playground” and stressed the need for cooperative mechanisms between citizens and intermediaries.

X Corp had argued that the Sahyog portal enables blocking orders under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, potentially bypassing the procedural safeguards mandated under Section 69A and the Supreme Court ruling in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India. 

The petition followed several takedown orders issued by the Ministry of Railways after posts related to a stampede at New Delhi Railway Station.

The government maintained that the Sahyog portal is a streamlined mechanism to address illegal online content promptly. It also argued that X Corp, as a foreign company incorporated in the United States, does not have the legal standing to file the petition in India under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.

Senior advocates representing the parties appeared before the court, and the matter was reserved for judgment on July 29, 2025 before the ruling was delivered this week.