X, the platform owned by Elon Musk, plans to appeal a ruling by the Karnataka High Court regarding a confidential content removal system called ‘Sahyog’.

The Karnataka high court (HC) has reportedly added another layer to the confrontation between Elon Musk’s X and the central government by dismissing the former’s plea for relief from the Centre’s censorship orders. Justice M Nagaprassana dismissed X’s plea, stating that social media cannot function with total freedom, according to a report by LiveLaw The judge expressed the view that, referencing US regulations regarding social media posts, the government’s attempt to regulate speech on the platform cannot be considered illegal.“We will appeal this order to defend free expression,” X said in a post on the platform, in its first statement since the High Court of Karnataka ruled last week that there was no legal merit to the company's legal challenge to quash India's content removal mechanisms.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 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 said on Monday. X owner Elon Musk, a self-described free-speech absolutist, has clashed with authorities in several countries over compliance and content takedown demands, but the company's Indian lawsuit targeted the entire basis for tightened internet regulation in the world's most populous nation, Reuters reported.Earlier on September 24, the Karnataka High Court dismissed X Corp's petition challenging the government's content takedown system under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act. The court emphasised that social media, as a “modern amphitheatre of ideas,” should not be allowed to operate in a state of “anarchic freedom” and must be subject to regulation.