Social Media Platform X Efforts To Thwart Indian Court Decision

JAKARTA - Social media platform X seeks to thwart India's court ruling stating that it is not complying with federal government orders to remove content, arguing that this move could strengthen New Delhi to block more content and expand sensor coverage.

X, formerly known as Twitter, in July 2022 tried to cancel a government order to remove some content from its platform. The court in June 2023 rejected the request and imposed a fine of 5 million rupees (Rp919.3 million).

X is now filing an appeal against the decision, arguing along 96 pages that the government "will be more courageous in issuing an unlawful ban order". The appeal file, which was dated August 1 but has not yet been published, was filed by local law firm Poovayya & Co at Karnataka High Court.

The original lawsuit took place before the ownership of X by billionaire Elon Musk, who is also pursuing a number of business ventures in India.

The Tesla executive leader is discussing investment proposals to set up electric vehicle manufacturing plants there, and is also trying to enter the Indian market with his company engaged in satellite and broadband, SpaceX.

In the appeal file, X stated that there should be a "clear parameter" about when an account should be completely blocked rather than just certain posts. Otherwise, "the government's power to censor future content is unlimited."

Court hearings are usually held a few days after the file is filed.

In recent years, the Indian government has asked X to take action against content including accounts deemed to support the independent Sikh state, posts accused of spreading false information about farmer protests, as well as tweets critical of the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.