Taking down orders: Karnataka High Court seeks centre's response in X Corp appeal

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday asked the union government to file its response to the writ appeal filed by X Corporation (formerly Twitter Inc), the US-based multi blogger platform. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha adjourned the matter to June 11 for further hearing.

In the appeal, X Corporation has challenged the September 24, 2025, order of the single bench dismissing the petition against content blocking as well as taking down orders through Sahyog portal. The X Corporation had challenged the direction of the union government authorising certain officials to issue information blocking orders under section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

While rejecting the petition, the single bench had noted that while X Corporation is subject to the regulatory regime in the United States of America, under the ‘Take It Down Act’ of the United States, which criminalises the violation of the orders of take down. However, the same petitioner refuses to follow the same in the shores of this nation of similar take down orders which are founded upon illegality, the single bench had said.

Insofar as the challenge to the Sahayog portal, the single bench had said that it is an instrument of public good, conceived under the authority of section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and Rule 3(b) of the 2021 Rules.