X Corp Appeals Karnataka HC Again, Cites 91% Compliance Rate

Elon Musk’s X Corp moved the Karnataka High Court on October 14, appealing a judgment that had rejected its challenge to the Central government’s Sahyog portal and the use of Article 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act for issuing takedown orders.

In its writ appeal, the company said that between January and June 2025, it received 29,118 government requests for content removal and complied with 26,641 of them, reflecting a 91.49% compliance rate. X Corp argued that these figures contradict the earlier ruling and demonstrate that the platform has substantially adhered to official directions.

X had signalled its intent to appeal on September 24, when the High Court, through Justice M. Nagaprasanna, upheld the Sahyog portal—an online system for issuing takedown orders to intermediaries. These figures now form part of its challenge to that decision.

The company further argues that government agencies are increasingly relying on Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and Rule 3(1)(d) of the 2021 IT Rules to issue takedown directions, creating an unlawful parallel mechanism that bypasses the Section 69A procedure upheld by the Supreme Court.

The company claims the Sahyog portal enables non-transparent and arbitrary content removal, including political criticism and lawful speech, without the safeguards required under Section 69A.

X further says the earlier ruling misapplied the Supreme Court’s Shreya Singhal (2015) judgment, reiterating that Section 69A remains the only valid legal basis for blocking content. The hearing date for X Corp’s appeal has not yet been scheduled.