Comedian Kunal Kamra moves Bombay High Court against Sahyog portal, calls it assault on free speech

Satirist, standup comedian and political commentator Kunal Kamra and Senior Advocate Haresh Jagtiani has moved the Bombay High Court against the Centre’s Sahyog portal, calling it an "unconstitutional and unreasonable assault” on freedom of speech, as it allows officials to take down content from social media platforms.

The portal gives content withdrawal directives to platforms like X, YouTube, Meta.

The duo of Kamra-Jagtiani have raised serious constitutional questions centering on freedom of speech, due process and the scope of government powers over online content.

The petition by Kamra-Jagtiani, filed through advocate Meenaz Kakalia, claims that the portal enables the government to unilaterally block/takedown online content without complying with mandatory legal safeguards.

In separate petitions, the two petitioners have challenged the portal along with recent amendments to Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

The petitions were filed on 4 February.

Under the amended rule, intermediaries are required to take-down or disable access to information used to commit an ‘unlawful act’ within 36 hours of receiving actual knowledge of such content.

The rule further mandates that takedown directions must clearly specify the legal basis for the action, the nature of the alleged unlawful act, the relevant statutory position and the precise online location of the content.

The Sahyog portal was developed as a dedicated cyber platform that automated this process and facilitated the quick removal of unlawful online information, data or communication links.