Elon Musk’s X challenges India’s internet censorship rules | The Express Tribune

Social media platform X said on Monday it plans toappealanIndiancourtorder that would allow over two million police officers nationwide to issue arbitrary takedown requests via asecretiveonline portal called the Sahyog.

“We willappealthis order to defend free expression,” X said in a post on the platform, in its first statement since the HighCourtof Karnataka ruledlast week that there was no legal merit to the company’s legal challenge to quash India’scontentremovalmechanisms.

“The Sahyog enables officers to ordercontentremovalbased solely on allegations of “illegality,” without judicial review or due process for the speakers, and threatens platforms with criminal liability for non-compliance,” X said on Monday.

X has locked horns with New Delhi in the past, equating the government’s mechanisms with censorship. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the newsystemtackles a proliferation of unlawfulcontentand ensures accountability online.

X owner Elon Musk, a self-described free-speech absolutist, has clashed with authorities in several countries over compliance andcontenttakedown demands, but the company’sIndianlawsuit targeted the entire basis for tightened internet regulation in the world’s most populous nation.

Modi’s government has ramped up efforts to police the internet since 2023 by allowing many more officials to file takedown orders and submit them directly to tech firms through a website launched in October.