Social media platform X announced on Monday its intention to appeal the Karnataka High Court’s decision, which dismissed its challenge to the Union Government’s Sahyog portal. The platform contends that the portal allows officials to mandate content removal based solely on allegations of “illegality,” lacking judicial review or due process for the speakers involved.
“X is deeply concerned by the recent order from the Karnataka court in India, which will empower millions of police officers to issue arbitrary takedown orders through a secretive online portal called Sahyog,” stated Global Affairs X.
The platform asserts that this new regulatory framework has no legal basis, circumvents Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, infringes on Supreme Court precedents, and violates the constitutional rights of Indian citizens concerning freedom of speech and expression. X has highlighted that the Sahyog portal enables officers to issue content removal orders without sufficient oversight while threatening platforms with criminal liability for non-compliance.
While the company clarified its commitment to complying with Indian law, it emphasized, “This order fails to address core constitutional issues in our challenge and is inconsistent with the Bombay High Court’s recent ruling that deemed a similar regime unconstitutional.”
In its statement, X asserted, “We respectfully disagree with the view that we have no right to raise these concerns because of our incorporation abroad. X significantly contributes to public discourse in India, and user voices remain central to our platform.” The company vowed to challenge the court order to defend free expression.
The Sahyog portal was launched in October 2024 by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, facilitated by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). It aims to provide a centralized online system for issuing content takedown notices to social media intermediaries, including X.
By April 2025, the portal had successfully onboarded 65 online intermediaries and nodal officers across all Indian states, union territories, and seven central agencies. Between October 2024 and April 2025, it facilitated 130 takedown notices to platforms such as Google, YouTube, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Critics, including X, argue that the Sahyog portal gives “millions” of police officers the authority to classify content as “illegal” without adequate oversight. They argue that it circumvents Section 69A of the IT Act, which allows government content blocking for national security or public order but mandates procedural safeguards, including hearings and review committees. X contends that Sahyog employs Section 79(3)(b) (intermediary liability for unlawful content) to bypass these protections.
On September 24, 2025, the Karnataka High Court denied X Corp’s challenge to the Centre’s Sahyog portal and the related government-issued content-blocking orders. The petitioner argued that Section 79(3)(b) does not give central government officers the authority to issue blocking orders without adhering to the procedures outlined in Section 69A and its regulations.
The Court rejected this argument, emphasizing that social media is not exempt from regulation and that while freedom of speech is constitutionally protected, it is subject to reasonable limitations. Justice M. Nagaprassana noted that unregulated speech could lead to “license to lawlessness,” highlighting the necessity of regulation to balance individual liberties with public order.
In its ruling on the Sahyog portal, the Court upheld its constitutionality, describing it as a “public good” established under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and Rule 3(b) of the 2021 Rules, intended to facilitate cooperation between intermediaries and the state in addressing unlawful content.
While X argued that the portal’s mandatory monitoring undermines the Supreme Court’s Shreya Singhal judgment, the Court maintained that the regime discussed in that ruling had been superseded by the 2021 Rules and must be interpreted independently.
The original article can be found on Maktoob Media.
Tags: Karnataka HC, content takedowns, Sahyog portal, challenge order, arbitrary content
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