X Corp (formerly Twitter) has raised concerns and filed a legal challenge regarding the Indian government’s use of the ‘Sahyog’ portal . Here’s a breakdown of the issues:
- Circumventing Section 69A of the IT Act: X Corp alleges that the government is misusing Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act to issue takedown orders through the Sahyog portal, bypassing the safeguards provided under Section 69A . Section 69A includes procedural safeguards like documenting reasons in writing, offering pre-decisional hearings, and allowing for legal challenges, which X Corp argues are being ignored .
- Unlawful Censorship Mechanism: X Corp argues that the Sahyog portal establishes an unlawful and unregulated censorship mechanism . They claim it allows state police and government departments to directly issue takedown requests, bypassing the procedural safeguards outlined in Section 69A .
- Parallel Censorship Framework: X Corp contends that the Sahyog portal creates a parallel censorship framework, enabling numerous officials to order content removals without transparency or oversight . They argue that this system lacks legal basis in the IT Act and allows blocking for vague and undefined “unlawful acts,” potentially censoring dissent and journalism .
- Lack of Transparency and Accountability: X Corp highlights that blocking orders issued through the Sahyog portal are not made public, and there is a lack of clarity on who issues them and on what basis . This secrecy prevents intermediaries and users from challenging these decisions .
- Forced Participation of Intermediaries: X Corp claims that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is demanding that it appoint a ‘Nodal Officer’ to comply with portal requests, even though this requirement has no legal basis in the IT Act, forcing private companies to comply with an unconstitutional system .
In response to these concerns, X Corp has filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court, seeking :
- A declaration that Section 79(3)(b) does not grant the government powers to issue blocking orders.
- The quashing of blocking orders issued through the Sahyog portal.
- Interim relief to prevent the government from forcing X Corp to comply with orders issued through the Sahyog portal or any other mechanism that circumvents Section 69A .
