The Crossbill News Desk
Social media platform X has announced that it will appeal the Karnataka High Court’s decision upholding the Union government’s controversial Sahyog website, which the company has described as a “secretive online portal.”
The development comes days after the court rejected X’s petition and backed the portal as a tool to aid cooperation between law enforcement agencies and internet intermediaries.
The Union home ministry had disclosed the creation of Sahyog during hearings in the Delhi High Court in the case of Shabana vs Govt of NCT of Delhi and Ors., after the bench observed that real-time coordination was required between platforms and law enforcement to address urgent matters. However, critics, including an editorial in The Hindu, have labelled it a “back door censor.”
“X is deeply concerned by the recent order from the Karnataka court in India, which will allow millions of police officers to issue arbitrary takedown orders through a secretive online portal called the Sahyog. This new regime has no basis in the law, circumvents Section 69A of the IT Act, violates Supreme Court rulings, and infringes Indian citizens’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression,” the Global Government Affairs handle of the company said in a post.
On September 24, Justice M. Nagaprasanna dismissed X’s plea, calling the Sahyog “an instrument of public good” and a “beacon of cooperation” between citizens and social media intermediaries.
The court also held that as a foreign corporation, X could not invoke constitutional protections available to Indian citizens.
Responding to this, the company argued that the system threatens free expression.
“The Sahyog enables officers to order content removal based solely on allegations of ‘illegality,’ without judicial review or due process for the speakers, and threatens platforms with criminal liability for non-compliance,” X’s Global Government Affairs team said.
The platform also made it clear that it disagreed with the High Court’s view on its standing to raise such issues.
“X respects and complies with Indian law, but this order fails to address the core constitutional issues in our challenge and is inconsistent with the Bombay High Court’s recent ruling that a similar regime was unconstitutional. We respectfully disagree with the view that we have no right to raise these concerns because of our incorporation abroad – X contributes significantly to public discourse in India and the voice of our users is at the heart of our platform. We will appeal this order to defend free expression,” the statement added.
The development comes days after the court rejected X’s petition and backed the portal as a tool to aid cooperation between law enforcement agencies and internet intermediaries.
The Union home ministry had disclosed the creation of Sahyog during hearings in the Delhi High Court in the case of Shabana vs Govt of NCT of Delhi and Ors., after the bench observed that real-time coordination was required between platforms and law enforcement to address urgent matters. However, critics, including an editorial in The Hindu, have labelled it a “back door censor.”
“X is deeply concerned by the recent order from the Karnataka court in India, which will allow millions of police officers to issue arbitrary takedown orders through a secretive online portal called the Sahyog. This new regime has no basis in the law, circumvents Section 69A of the IT Act, violates Supreme Court rulings, and infringes Indian citizens’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression,” the Global Government Affairs handle of the company said in a post.
On September 24, Justice M. Nagaprasanna dismissed X’s plea, calling the Sahyog “an instrument of public good” and a “beacon of cooperation” between citizens and social media intermediaries.
The court also held that as a foreign corporation, X could not invoke constitutional protections available to Indian citizens.
Responding to this, the company argued that the system threatens free expression.
“The Sahyog enables officers to order content removal based solely on allegations of ‘illegality,’ without judicial review or due process for the speakers, and threatens platforms with criminal liability for non-compliance,” X’s Global Government Affairs team said.
The platform also made it clear that it disagreed with the High Court’s view on its standing to raise such issues.
“X respects and complies with Indian law, but this order fails to address the core constitutional issues in our challenge and is inconsistent with the Bombay High Court’s recent ruling that a similar regime was unconstitutional. We respectfully disagree with the view that we have no right to raise these concerns because of our incorporation abroad – X contributes significantly to public discourse in India and the voice of our users is at the heart of our platform. We will appeal this order to defend free expression,” the statement added.
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