Why is Musk's X suing the Indian government?

Elon Musk's social network X filed a lawsuit against the Indian government, arguing that the country's IT Ministry has unlawfully expanded its censorship powers to allow the easier removal of online content.

In the court filing dated March 5 but only reported by media on Thursday, the social network alleged that the Indian IT Ministry has asked other departments to use a government-run website to issue content-blockingg orders.

Why is Musk's X suing the Indian government?

X argued the website, launched by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs last year, was not subject to the stringent Indian legal safeguards that previously only allowed content removal orders to be issued by top officials and in cases deemed to threaten public order or state sovereignty.

The website creates "an impermissible parallel mechanism" that causes "unrestrained censorship of information in India," the social network claimed.

The Indian government is yet to comment.

The case was briefly heard earlier this week in the High Court of India's southern Karnataka state but no final decision was reached. It will now be heard on March 27.

Musk wants to roll out Starlink and Tesla in India

The lawsuit marks an escalation in an ongoing legal dispute between X and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over how the country polices online content. It also comes as Musk prepares to launch Starlink and Tesla in India.

Musk has reached agreements with two of India's largest telecommunications providers Jio and Bharti Airtel, to role out Starlink broadband across the country but the company still requires government authorization.

The dispute also coincides with threats by US President Donald Trump, to whom Musk acts as a senior adviser, to impose tariffs on Indian goods.

"I believe they're going to probably be lowering those tariffs substantially. But on April 2, we will be charging them the same tariffs they charge us," Trump told the American far-right Breitbart news network, calling India "one of the highest tariffing nations in the world."

Back in 2021, X, then known as Twitter, was at loggerheads with the Indian government after refusing to comply with legal orders to block certain posts related to farmers' protests.