What Is The Sahyog Portal And Why X Is Fighting Karnataka High Court's Latest Order

Elon Musk's X has said that it will file an appeal after Karnataka High Court rejected the platform's petition against the Sahyog portal. The Sahyog portal will allow police officers to monitor and regulate online content, a move the court said was necessary in its ruling last week. In a post on X, the platform said, "X is deeply concerned by the recent order from the Karnataka court in India, which will allow millions of police officers to issue arbitrary takedown orders through a secretive online portal called the Sahyog. This new regime has no basis in the law, circumvents Section 69A of the IT Act, violates Supreme Court rulings, and infringes Indian citizens’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression. "The Sahyog enables

officers to order content removal based solely on allegations of 'illegality', without judicial review or due process for the speakers, and threatens platforms with criminal liability for non-compliance.

"X respects and complies with Indian law, but this order fails to address the core constitutional issues in our challenge and is inconsistent with the Bombay High Court's recent ruling that a similar regime was unconstitutional. We respectfully disagree with the view that we have no right to raise these concerns because of our incorporation abroad—X contributes significantly to public discourse in India and the voice of our users is at the heart of our platform. We will appeal this order to defend free expression."Earlier, the Karnataka High Court had rejected a petition filed by X challenging the Sahyog portal.The court stated the necessity of regulating social media content, warning that it cannot be allowed to exist in a “state of anarchic freedom.” It also described the Sahyog portal as a legitimate “instrument of public good.”Launched in October 2024 by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the portal is managed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre.