India has voiced its disapproval of Elon Musk’s X, criticizing its characterization of an official government website as a “censorship portal.” This website is designed to notify tech companies about harmful online content, according to court documents reviewed by Reuters on Friday.
The legal action signifies an intensification of the dispute between X and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government regarding content removal directives, occurring as Musk prepares to launch his other significant ventures, Starlink and Tesla, in India.
These remarks were made in response to X’s lawsuit filed on March 5 in Karnataka, seeking to overturn the government’s website initiative.
“The terminology used by a global platform like X is unfortunate and reprehensible,” stated the information technology ministry in court, countering X’s “unfounded concerns about censorship.”
The ministry, whose court statement from March 27 has not been publicly released, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Modi’s government asserts that the new website’s sole purpose is to promptly inform tech companies of their due diligence obligations, clarifying that no blocking orders were issued.
X, however, contends that India has unlawfully expanded its censorship powers to streamline the removal of online content, granting “numerous” government officials the authority to execute such orders through what it labels a “censorship portal.”
