Writ petitions cannot be filed against X Corp (Twitter): Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that writ petitions cannot be filed before courts against a social media platform like X (formerly Twitter) since the same is not a wing of the State and does not discharge any government/ public functions [Sanchit Gupta v Union of India & Anr]..Justice Sajeev Narula ruled that though X plays a critical role in information dissemination and influencing public opinion, it is a private entity and does not perform a public function or discharge a public duty.“While ‘X’ plays a critical role in information dissemination and influencing public opinion, its core function is to provide a platform for expression—a service that has ‘public discourse’ as consequence, yet is private in operation. There is no directive, statutory or otherwise, from the government that delegates traditional state functions to ‘X’. The platform is not mandated to carry out public duties. ‘X’ is voluntary and user-driven, distinguishing it from entities that operate under a compulsion of law or provide services that are essential public utilities,” the Court said..The Court rendered these findings while dealing with a writ petition filed by one Sanchit Gupta challenging X’s decision to suspend his X/ Twitter handle.Gupta alleged a breach of principles of natural justice, equity and fairness.He also made the Union of India a party to his case and said that it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that constitutional rights are not infringed upon by private entities, especially those that play a significant role in public communication and discourse, such as X Corp..However, the Court rejected the arguments and held that there was nothing to indicate that Central government has failed in their regulatory duties or that there has been a disregard of legal obligations necessitating the intervention of the High Court through a mandamus.“In light of the above, the present writ petition, in the opinion of the Court is not maintainable and is accordingly dismissed along with pending applications,” the Bench ordered..Advocates Ankit Shah, Avneesh Kumar Upadhyaya, Megha Tyagi, Kriti Jain and Tarun Arora appeared for Sanchit Gupta.Union of India was represented through Central Government Standing Counsel Mukul Singh and advocate Seema Singh..[Read Judgment]