Delhi High Court seeks Centre’s reply on making Elon Musk's X Corp. a mandatory member of Sahyog Portal

The Delhi High Court has asked the Union government to clarify whether social media platform X Corp., formerly known as Twitter, should be required to participate in the Sahyog portal in cases linked to human trafficking, child trafficking and national security.

In its order dated 12 August, a bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma directed the Centre to file a detailed response by 10 September. The reply must address X Corp.’s application seeking discharge from proceedings and its opposition to mandatory onboarding to the Sahyog portal, which is operated by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The court observed, “Let the Union of India file its reply to the present application, addressing the specific issue i.e. as to whether in cases involving human trafficking, child trafficking and serious matters such as drug trafficking and national security-related issues are concerned, the applicant X Corp. ought to be unexceptionally part of the SAHYOG portal. Let the reply be filed by September 10, 2025.”

X Corp. has challenged the Sahyog framework, and the matter is also pending before the Karnataka High Court, where judgment has been reserved. However, the Delhi High Court noted that there was no legal barrier preventing it from hearing X Corp. in the current case, which arose from a habeas corpus petition filed by a woman seeking the whereabouts of her missing 19-year-old son.

The bench underlined that its consideration of X Corp.’s participation was from the perspective of missing children cases and the need for timely cooperation between law enforcement agencies and social media intermediaries.

The government’s counsel argued that while X Corp. has resisted joining, 64 other intermediaries have already come on board. In its status report, the Centre also said that more than 1,100 entities, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Microsoft and internet service providers, have joined the “API integrated system” that supports instant data sharing. Additionally, 33 Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers have signed up, while all states and Union territories have appointed nodal officers.

The Sahyog portal was designed to streamline the process of sending IT Act notices to intermediaries, enabling faster action against unlawful online information. It aims to unify authorised agencies and intermediaries on a single platform to ensure swift removal of harmful content.

The High Court will next hear the matter after the Centre submits its reply.