‘Unrestrained censorship’: Elon Musk's X sues Indian government over alleged misuse of IT Act

Elon Musk-led social media platform X has filed a petition against the Indian government in the Karnataka High Court, challenging the use of Section 79 (3) of the Information Technology Act, according to a report in the Hindustan Times. X argues that the Indian government's use of this section creates an illegal parallel process for blocking content, and also violates the Supreme Court's 2015 order in the Shreya Singhal case, which affirmed that content can only be blocked under the structured process of Section 69 A of the IT Act.

Section 79 (3) (b) of the IT Act states that an intermediary can lose the protection from liability for third-party content, known as the "safe harbor," if it fails to remove or disable content after being notified by the "appropriate" government or authority.

The social media giant is reportedly arguing that the PM Modi-led government is misusing Section 79 (3) (b) to bypass the safeguards of Section 69A and arbitrarily censor content online.

X has also sought protection from the High Court for not inducting an employee in the Sahyog portal - where the state police and various other government departments can directly issue takedown orders, without following the procedure laid down under Section 69A. X has called this portal a "censorship portal" and argued that the government does not have the authority to create such a portal under the law.

X has argued that the orders issued by the government under the IT Act would lead to "significant and unfettered censorship of information in India".

“The law mandates that information blocking can only be carried out under Section 69A, which provides for judicial scrutiny. By using Section 79(3)(b) as an alternative mechanism, the government is effectively nullifying the Supreme Court’s directives,” X stated in its petition as per a Moneycontrol report.

Union Govt probing Grok:

The new lawsuit comes amid multiple reports that the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is in touch with X over recent incidents of its AI chatbot, Grok, using Hindi slang and abusive responses.

According to a report by news agency PTI, the IT ministry is looking into the matter. It will look into the matter and the factors that led to the use of abusive language.

Grok, the powerful AI chatbot on Elon Musk’s X, shocked netizens recently. Grok revealed its wild side when its response in Hindi came loaded with abuses and slang following provocation by users. On subjects such as politics, cinema, and celebrities, Grok has left some users bedazzled by its opinionated responses. In other instances, Grok has used regional slang and abuses.