India calls X a 'habitual non-compliant platform' in latest court tussle

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Indian government has accused Elon Musk’s X platform of being a “habitual non-compliant platform” that has consistently failed to follow orders to remove content, undermining the government’s authority, according to a legal filing reviewed by Reuters.

The allegations were made in a non-public filing by India’s IT ministry to the high court in the state of Karnataka, which is set to hear a challenge brought by X over a government fine in the next few days. X and India’s IT ministry did not provide any comments.

The platform, formerly known as Twitter, has an ongoing legal dispute with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration over alleged non-compliance with content removal orders.

In June, the Karnataka High Court imposed a fine of 5 million rupees ($60,291) on the platform, stating that it had failed to comply with numerous blocking orders without providing any reasonable explanation.

Twitter appealed the ruling to a higher bench in the court, arguing that it could invite more content blocking and broaden the scope of censorship by the government.

The platform also sought court intervention to block the fine. In a 28-page filing, the IT ministry stated that X’s appeal should be dismissed, claiming that the company had undermined the government’s role in a democratic system by unblocking some accounts that were ordered to be blocked without its knowledge.

The IT ministry stated in its filing that X’s compliance with government requests has been significantly low and emphasized that it is the government’s duty to ensure that platforms operate in a legally compliant manner.

X and the Indian government have had strained relations for years. The dispute dates back to 2021 when the social media platform refused to block certain accounts that New Delhi ordered to be taken down in relation to farmer protests against government policies.

Indian authorities have also requested the removal of content, including accounts supportive of an independent Sikh state, posts accused of spreading misinformation about farmer protests, and tweets criticizing the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ruling against Twitter in June followed a lawsuit filed by the company in 2022, before Musk acquired the social media platform, challenging many of India’s content removal orders.

Under Musk’s ownership, X has been pursuing a legal challenge to that ruling since August.

In the recent court filing, the Indian government argues that X is “advocating a dangerous trend” by attempting to judge the validity of government orders, which would make all platforms the final arbiter of lawful orders if allowed.

These ongoing legal battles coincide with Musk’s Tesla discussing plans to establish a factory in India for manufacturing electric vehicles.

Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Sharon Singleton