What if every Tom, Dick and Harry officer sends notices: X corp on takedown orders

New Delhi: Social media platform X Corp (formerly Twitter) faced sharp criticism in the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday after its counsel questioned the authority of government officials to issue content takedown notices under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Senior Advocate K G Raghavan, representing X Corp, told the court: “What if every Tom, Dick and Harry officer sends me notices? See how this is being misused,” referring to a recent takedown notice from the Ministry of Railways regarding a video of a woman driving a car on railway tracks in Hyderabad.

The remarks triggered immediate objections from the Union government and the court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union of India, responded, “They are officers, not Tom, Dick and Harry. They are statutory functionaries with legal authority. International entities should not display such arrogance.” Mehta further stated that social media platforms must follow Indian law just as they comply with regulations in other countries.

Justice M Nagaprasanna also objected to the language used by X Corp’s counsel and reaffirmed the status of Union government officers, saying, “I take objection to this. They are officers of the Union of India.”

X Corp has sought a judicial declaration that Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act does not empower government officials to issue blocking orders, arguing that such orders must adhere to the procedures under Section 69A and the relevant blocking rules. The company also requested the court to prevent government ministries from taking coercive or adverse action against it based on any blocking orders not issued as per the prescribed procedure.

Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi, representing an association of digital media houses, also addressed the court, noting that takedown orders directly affect content creators. The bench questioned the association’s intervention in a matter between X Corp and the government, to which Sondhi replied that such orders impact their published material.

Solicitor General Mehta opposed the intervention, stating that X Corp is a capable international company and does not require third-party support.

The High Court scheduled the matter for final hearing on July 8 and allowed X Corp to amend its petition to include additional Union ministries. The Union of India was directed to file its response to the impleading application before the next hearing.