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Bengaluru: Social media platforms must abide by Indian laws, the Karnataka High Court observed on Wednesday while dismissing petitions filed by X challenging the Centre’s directions to block certain accounts and posts.

Observing that regulation of social media was “the need of the hour”, the court stressed that microblogging platforms cannot be allowed to operate in India without oversight.

“Social media companies cannot be allowed to work unregulated in India,” the High Court said. Every company seeking to operate in the country “needs to know this”, it added.

The bench observed that X must comply with the country’s laws and clarified that the Constitutional protection of free speech under Article 19 is available only to Indian citizens, not foreign entities.

The bench said that Article 19 of the Constitution, which protects freedom of speech, is “citizen centric.” “Article 19 remains the charter of rights for citizens only. The protective embrace of Article 19 cannot be invoked by those who are not citizens,” the court noted.

“American jurisprudence cannot be transported to Indian judicial thought process,” the judge said, adding that while X follows laws in the United States, it “refuses to follow India’s takedown orders”.

Pointing to the fast-changing digital ecosystem, the bench remarked, “Algorithms are constantly shaping the flow of information – thus the menace of social media needs to be curbed and regulated?”

It held that as technology develops, regulation must evolve, noting that the 2021 IT Rules “demand their own interpretative frame.”

The court concluded that “no social media platform can take exemption from the laws of the land,” adding that “Indian marketplaces cannot be treated as a playground.”