Due Diligence Over Due Process? Analysing The Karnataka High Court's Ruling On Rule 3(1)(d) And The Sahyog Portal

Introduction

On September 24, 2025, the Karnataka High Court pronounced its judgment in X Corp (formerly Twitter) v. Union of India, rejecting X Corp's constitutionality challenge against Rule 3(1)(d) of the 2021 IT Rules and the government's Sahyog portal (dubbed the "censorship portal" by X Corp in its petition). The Court dismissed X Corp's writ petition, holding that Rule 3(1)(d), read with Section 79 of the IT Act, is not ultra vires, vague or arbitrary, but a valid due-diligence obligation that intermediaries must observe. It also rejected X Corp's argument that Section 79(3)(b) is merely an exemption provision that does not permit the issuance of takedown or blocking orders, which it asserted must instead be issued only under Section 69A, IT Act read with the 2009 Blocking Rules. The Court described the Sahyog portal – a centralized online platform through which authorised government agencies can issue content removal directions and user data requests to