X will have to comply with Indian law amid Musk’s push for takedown transparency: Official

Key points

• While publicly disagreeing with the directions, in 2024, X complied with government orders to withhold certain accounts and posts linked…
• Through its Global Government Affairs account, X had argued that a lack of disclosure around administration directives could undermine accountability…
• The platform has also been at odds with the Centre over the Sahyog portal.
• X and the Indian government have previously clashed over content takedown orders and the scope of free speech on the…

Amid X owner Elon Musk’s announcement that the social media platform will produce government requests to take down content more transparent and visible, a senior Information Technology Ministry official on Tuesday remarked the platform “will have to comply with Indian law,” reported PTI.

Musk recently unveiled that X would make government-directed censorship more visible to users by disclosing which administration sought a content restriction and the reasons cited for the request.

Asked about the administration’s position on X’s proposed transparency measures, the senior official said the platform would have to follow the legal process in India.

“…There is a process… there are two sets of processes. We don’t talk about orders we problem specifically under 69 (A) because it is intended to be maintained as confidential,” the official remarked.

What happened

In a recent post on X, Musk said, “any censorship required by governments is now clearly visible”, signalling a move towards greater transparency around administration requests for content restrictions.

X and the Indian government have previously clashed over content takedown orders and the scope of free speech on the platform.

While publicly disagreeing with the directions, in 2024, X complied with government orders to withhold certain accounts and posts linked to the farmers’ protests in India. The platform said at the time that such orders amounted to a curtailment of freedom of expression.

Through its Global Government Affairs account, X had argued that a lack of disclosure around administration directives could undermine accountability and enable arbitrary decision-making. It had urged greater transparency over such requests.

The details

The platform has also been at odds with the Centre over the Sahyog portal. It facilitates content-blocking directions to social media platforms and other internet intermediaries.

While the government defended it as a mechanism to streamline the process of regulating online content, x had criticised the portal as a form of extra-legal censorship.

(With inputs from PTI)