The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday rejected X Corp’s plea challenging the Centre’s power to issue takedown orders, stating that “social media content must be regulated.”
The decision came as a major setback for Elon Musk’s company. The court said social media cannot be left in a state of anarchic freedom, adding that every country regulates it.
According to Live Law, the high court observed that unregulated content becomes a license to lawlessness, while regulated content preserves liberty and order. The court further stated that no social media platform can be exempted from the law of the land.
“No social media platform can treat the Indian marketplace as a mere playground. Every sovereign nation regulates social media, and so must India,” the court observed.
“The petitioner who seeks sanctuary must be a citizen of the nation. Sahyog portal stands as a beacon of cooperation between citizens and intermediaries. Hence, the challenge is without merit,” the court remarked.
Rejecting X’s contention of free speech, the High Court underlined that American jurisprudence cannot be transplanted into Indian constitutional thought, adding that judicial thinking on the regulation of speech has evolved in keeping with technological developments.
The bench further noted that X complies with similar regulatory regimes in the United States but has opposed India’s framework.
“We are a society governed by laws. Order is the architecture of democracy. The petitioner’s platform is subject to a regulatory regime in the USA; the same petitioner refuses to follow similar laws in India. The petition stands rejected. Application for intervenor stands rejected,” the order stated.
