Social media giant ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), owned by US billionaire Elon Musk, has filed a lawsuit in the Karnataka High Court against the Government of India, challenging what it called “unlawful content regulation and arbitrary censorship.” It raised concerns over the Centre’s interpretation of the Information Technology (IT) Act, particularly its use of Section 79(3)(b), which ‘X’ argues violates Supreme Court rulings and undermines free expression online. 

The lawsuit alleged the Indian government is using the said section to create a parallel content-blocking mechanism, bypassing the structured legal process outlined in Section 69A. ‘X’ claimed this approach contradicts the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in the Shreya Singhal case, which established that content can only be blocked through a proper judicial process or the legal ly defined route under Section 69A.