X Corp. v. Union of India: All you need to know about the Karnataka HC battle over Sahyog portal, censorship and the scope of the IT Act
According to information available with The Leaflet, the matter has been adjourned till 1 July 2025
Published on: 23 April 2025, 10:33 am
ON MARCH 5, the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X Corp. (formerly Twitter) filed a writ petition before the Karnataka High Court, challenging the Union government’s creation and use of the ‘Sahyog’ portal - a centralised digital mechanism that enables government agencies to issue content-blocking orders.
The petition is being heard by Justice M. Nagaprasanna, and its implications reach far beyond this one platform. At stake is the very legal architecture of digital content regulation in India.
About 'Sahyog'
Last year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (‘MHA’) launched the 'Sahyog' portal, an automated platform designed to enhance the efficiency of the process through which the appropriate government or its agency issues notices to intermediaries, under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (‘IT Act’). The portal aims to streamline the procedure for the removal or disabling of access to online content that is being misused for unlawful activities.
The core objective of the 'Sahyog' portal is to consolidate the efforts of ‘authorized agencies’ and online intermediaries and subsume onto a single platform, enabling swift and coordinated actions against illegal online content. Additionally, this initiative also necessitates intermediaries, such as social media platforms and content hosts, to comply with the notice-based removal procedures. In doing so, ‘Sahyog’ is a step towards a cleaner and safer cyberspace - guarding the interests and security of Indian citizens in the digital age.
The core objective of the 'Sahyog' portal is to consolidate the efforts of ‘authorized agencies’ and online intermediaries and subsume onto a single platform, enabling swift and coordinated actions against illegal online content.
Relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000
Section 69A: This provision, under the IT Act, 2000, grants authority to the central government to block public access of online content under specific circumstances - including for protecting national security, maintaining public order, and safeguarding the sovereignty of India. It allows government agencies to take immediate action against harmful online content that poses a threat to India's security or stability.
Section 79: Known for providing "safe harbor" protection, Section 79 shields online intermediaries from liability for third-party content, provided that these intermediaries act in a neutral capacity. However, under Section 79(3)(b), intermediaries relinquish this exemption if they fail to act expeditiously upon receiving notices relating to illegal content.
What the petition contends
The petition contends that the ‘Sahyog’ portal, developed and deployed across various central ministries, including the Ministries of Electronics and IT, Home Affairs, Defence, Finance, and Railways, creates a parallel mechanism to issue blocking orders without adhering to the procedural safeguards prescribed under Section 69A of the IT Act, and the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009. Instead, government authorities have allegedly relied on Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act to compel intermediaries to comply with takedown orders - an approach that X Corp. argues is both unlawful and unconstitutional.