India’s IT Ministry has unlawfully extended its censorship authority to facilitate the removal of online content and allow “countless” government officials to enforce such orders.
The lawsuit and accusations indicate the escalation of the ongoing legal dispute between X, who is being instructed by New Delhi to take down content, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This comes as Musk prepares to launch Starlink and Tesla in India.
In a recent court filing dated March 5, X argues that India’s IT ministry is utilizing a government website launched by the Home Office last year to issue content blocking orders and compel social media companies to participate on the website. According to X, the process lacks stringent Indian legal safeguards concerning content removal, requiring the issuance of an order in cases of sovereignty or public order harm and involving strict monitoring by top officials.
India’s IT Ministry redirected a request for comment to the Home Office, but did not respond.
The government’s website stated it was attempting to counter the directive by establishing an “unacceptable parallel mechanism” that would lead to “unchecked censorship of Indian information.”
X’s court documents have not been publicly released and were initially reported by the media on Thursday. The case was briefly heard earlier this week by a judge from the Southern High Court of Karnataka, but a final decision was not reached. The next hearing is scheduled for March 27th.
In 2021, X, previously known as Twitter, faced a dispute with the Indian government over defying a legal order to block certain tweets related to farmers’ protests against government policies. X eventually complied after facing backlash from the public, but the legal challenge remains ongoing in Indian courts.
Source: www.theguardian.com
