Elon Musk’s X fights back against Indian court’s ruling, citing concerns over censorship

Elon Musk's social media platform X is aiming to challenge a verdict by an Indian court, which stated that the platform failed to comply with government directives to take down certain content, reported Reuters. The company asserts that this ruling might empower New Delhi to block additional content and expand the possibilities of censorship.

X, previously recognized as Twitter, attempted to reverse official mandates in July 2022, requiring the deletion of specific material from its platform. In June 2023, a court dismissed this appeal and levied a penalty of five million rupees .

As per the report from Reuters, X has lodged an appeal against the aforementioned verdict. In a 96-page submission dated August 1, which has not been publicly disclosed but was filed by the local legal firm Poovayya & Co at the Karnataka High Court, X contends that the government's actions may bolster further injunctions that contravene the law.

The initial lawsuit precedes X's ownership by billionaire Elon Musk, who is concurrently involved in various business ventures in India. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is currently in talks regarding an investment proposal to establish an electric vehicle factory in the country. Additionally, he aims to facilitate market entry for his satellite broadband company, SpaceX.

In the filing, X emphasized the need for "clearly defined guidelines" regarding the circumstances under which an entire account is blocked instead of specific posts. Without such parameters, the government's ability to censor future content remains unrestrained. Typically, court hearings take place within a few days of the submission of a filing.

In previous years, Indian authorities have requested the company to address content related to accounts supporting an independent Sikh state, posts accused of spreading misinformation about farmer protests, and tweets criticizing the government's management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(With inputs from Reuters)