The Karnataka High Court’s ruling that deemed the social media platform X non-compliant with content removal requests has faced a challenge from the company. X contends that the court’s decision could empower the government to impose further content restrictions.
Formerly known as Twitter, X has sought to contest government orders from July 2022 that mandated the removal of certain content, the specifics of which were not disclosed. In June 2023, the court dismissed X’s appeal and levied a penalty of ₹50 lakh.
In its 96-page submission, filed through the local law firm Poovayya & Co., X argued that if its appeal fails, the government would be incentivized to issue more blocking orders that contravene legal guidelines.
Owned by billionaire Elon Musk, X emphasized in its filing the need for “discernible parameters” governing scenarios where an entire account might be blocked as opposed to individual posts. Without such guidelines, the company argued, the government’s ability to censor content would be unchecked.
Over the years, Indian authorities have required X to address various issues, including accounts perceived as advocating for a sovereign Sikh state, posts that allegedly propagated misinformation regarding farmer protests, and tweets critiquing the government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
Recently, Musk introduced a rebranding of Twitter to X, releasing a new logo that has drawn mixed reactions on the platform.
The hashtag “#GoodbyeTwitter” trended as users expressed dissatisfaction with the new emblem, reflecting on the previous design’s nostalgic value.
The original logo, conceived in 2012 by a design team of three, was intended to be simple and easily recognizable, according to one of the designers, Martin Grasser.
Additionally, Musk recently announced that the user base of X has reached new heights, with the monthly count surpassing 540 million, as shown in a graph shared by him.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
