X, India spar over lawyer’s ‘Tom, Dick, and Harry’ remark for government officials

NEW DELHI: A lawyer for Elon Musk’s X told an Indian court on Tuesday that every “Tom, Dick, and Harry” government official had been authorised to issue content takedown orders, drawing a sharp rebuke from New Delhi’s counsel in the latest clash over content moderation.

X has long been at loggerheads with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over content removal requests.

The remarks were made during a hearing on the U.S. firm’s challenge to a government-run website it says is a “censorship portal” that allows officials to issue content removal orders. New Delhi says the website is only to swiftly notify companies of their due diligence obligations.

India is a critical growth market for X owner Musk, who is getting closer to launching his other key ventures Starlink and Tesla in the country.

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During the court hearing, X’s lawyer, K. G. Raghavan, said it recently received a notice from the railways department to remove a video in which a car was being driven on a railway track. That was news, but the government found it unlawful, he told the court.

“This is the danger, My Lord, that is done now, if every Tom, Dick, and Harry officer is authorised,” Raghavan told the high court in the southern state of Karnataka.

The phrase drew immediate condemnation from India’s Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who said “officers are not Tom, Dick, or Harry … they are statutory functionaries”.

“No social media intermediary can expect completely unregulated functioning,” Mehta said.

India’s IT ministry and X did not respond to Reuters queries.

In 2021, X, formerly called Twitter, was locked in a stand-off with the Indian government over non-compliance with legal orders to block certain tweets. It later complied, but is still locked in a court fight related to the move.