'New Regime Has No Basis In Law': Elon Musk's X On High Court Order

X, Twitter in its past avatar, has said it is "deeply concerned" by last week's Karnataka High Court order - that 'social media companies cannot be allowed to work unregulated in India'.

In a detailed statement on the platform this morning, the Elon Musk-owned company said the High Court order permits "arbitrary takedown orders through a secretive online portal called 'Sahyog'"; the reference was to a federal agency tasked with the creation of an 'effective framework and ecosystem' to deal with cybercrime in the country.

"This new regime has no basis in law... (it) circumvents Section 69A of the Information Technology Act... violates Supreme Court rulings... and infringes Indian citizens' constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression."

'Sahyog' enables officers to order content removal based solely on allegations of 'illegality', without judicial review or due process and threatens platforms with criminal liability for non-compliance," the company, posting via its Global Goverment Affairs handle, said.

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…

— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) September 29, 2025

Stressing X "respects and complies with Indian law", the company, however, pointed out the High Court order "fails to address the core constitutional issues... and is inconsistent with the Bombay High Court's recent ruling that a similar regime was unconstitutional".

The fact that X is incorporated abroad (in the United States) does not invalidate its right to raise these concerns, the company also said, noting it 'contributes significantly to public discourse in India'. "We will appeal this order to defend free expression," the company said.

The Karnataka High Court had rejected a petition by Musk's X that challenged the authority of government officials to issue information blocking orders.

READ | "Must Regulate Content": High Court Rejects X's Challenge To Centre's Authority

"Social media needs to be regulated... more so in cases of offences against women, in particular, failing which the right to dignity, as ordained in the Constitution of a citizen gets railroaded," the court maintained.

Justice M Nagaprasanna, while dictating the order, emphasised that the regulation of communication has always been a matter of governance, regardless of the medium.

The Centre had opposed X's plea, contending that unlawful or illegal content could not claim the same degree of constitutional protection as legitimate speech.

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