'Social media must be regulated': Karnataka HC rejects X's plea, upholds Centre's power to issue blocking orders

NEW DELHI: The Karnataka high court on Monday rejected social media platform X Corp ’s petition challenging the Centre's directive mandating onboarding to the Sahyog portal — a platform used to communicate content-blocking orders with intermediaries.

Justice Krishna S Dixit Nagaprasanna, while pronouncing the verdict, underlined the need for regulation of social media platforms, observing that "social media must be regulated," news agency ANI reported.

X Corp had moved the court seeking a declaration that Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, does not confer powers on the Union government to issue information-blocking orders. The company argued that the mandate to route such orders through the Sahyog portal exceeded the statutory framework.

The court, however, disagreed with this contention, holding that the government has the authority to enforce compliance with its blocking orders and to prescribe mechanisms for their secure transmission.