FILE PHOTO: 'X' logo is seen on the top of the headquarters of the messaging platform X in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S., July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
BENGALURU/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -An Indian court on Wednesday ruled there was no merit in X's legal challenge to quash the country's content removal mechanism the social media site had equated with censorship, saying the platform had a duty of accountability and must follow local laws.
X-owner Elon Musk, a self-described free-speech absolutist, has clashed with authorities in several countries over compliance and content takedown demands, but X's Indian lawsuit had targeted the entire basis for tightened internet regulation in the world's most populous nation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has since 2023 ramped up efforts to police the internet by allowing many more officials to file takedown orders and submit them directly to tech firms through a government website launched in October.
X had said the measures were unconstitutional and amounted to censorship.
JUDGE REJECTS X'S CENSORSHIP CLAIMS
"Every platform that seeks to operate within the jurisdiction of our nation, which they do, must accept that liberty is yoked with responsibility," Judge M Nagaprasanna said in dismissing X's case.
A representative for X in India did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the ruling.
The ruling by the high court in the southern state of Karnataka comes after months of legal wrangling between lawyers from both sides, including a remark by X that every "Tom, Dick, and Harry" government official had been authorised to issue content takedown orders.
In response, Modi's government had argued the new system tackled a proliferation of unlawful content and ensured accountability online.
The government also says many tech companies, including Meta and Alphabet's Google, support its actions.
It argued that the platform serves as a vehicle for "spreading hate and division" that threatens social harmony, while "fake news" on the platform has sparked unspecified law-and-order issues.
X could appeal Wednesday's ruling, including at the Supreme Court of India.
(Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi and Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Aditya Kalra, Joe Bavier and Sharon Singleton and Louise Heavens)
