Bengaluru3 minutes ago
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The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition of Ilon Musk’s company X against the central government. Justice M Nagprasanna said that it is very important to control social media content, especially in cases which are related to crime against women. They said,
Freedom of expression (Article 19) is the right of citizens, but some limitations also apply to it. America’s laws and decisions cannot be directly implemented to the Constitution of India.
The X filed a petition against the Government of India in March. It was said that the Indian government officials are blocking the content on X, this is the misuse of Section 79 (3) (B) of the IT Act.
The social media company says that if the content starts to withdraw so easily, they will lose the trust of the users, which will affect the business of the company. At the same time, the Center said that it is necessary to remove illegal content.
Center said- not freedom of illegal content expression
The central government said in the court that content against illegal or law cannot be given equal protection as freedom of expression. The government argued,
Safe harbor security to social media companies will only be implemented only if they remove the wrong content immediately if they come up. X cannot argue on behalf of his users by pretending to be an excuse for chewing effect.
Safe harbor means the company will not have the responsibility of what the user posts on the social media platform. At the same time, Chintal Effect means that due to fear of law, people should stop speaking themselves.
X said- Government is removing content through cooperation portal
The X alleged that the government blocks the content through a portal named ‘Cooperation’. The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center operates this portal. At the behest of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the police and government departments order to remove the content. X said.
The cooperation portal is acting like a ‘censorship portal’, so it cannot be considered a step taken according to the rules.
X claim- Section 79 (3) (b) is being misused
X claimed that government officials in India are ignoring appropriate legal procedures and erecting an illegal system to block online content. This is the misuse of Section 79 (3) (B) of the IT Act. Such orders can be issued only under Section 69A and the rules related to it.
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