An Indian high court reportedly dismissed a petition by Elon Musk’s X challenging the country’s content removal rules, dealing a blow to the social media platform’s efforts to push back against tightening regulation in the country.

According to Reuters, the company filed the petition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in March, contesting the authority of government officials to issue takedown orders under the legislation and arguing that the case was defence of free speech against unconstitutional digital overreach.

However, senior judge M Nagaprasanna rejected the petition, highlighting the need for robust online controls particularly regarding content related to women’s safety. He stressed that that free speech rights must be exercised within the framework of Indian law, stating that “liberty is yoked with responsibility and the privilege of access carries with it the solemn duty of accountability”, local news outlet NDTV reported.

“Information and communication… has always been a subject matter of regulation,” Nagaprasanna added, cautioning against importing US judicial principles into the Indian legal context.

Reuters reported the Indian government has long maintained that its regulatory approach prevents spread of unlawful content and has backing from big tech players including Meta Platforms and Google.

The latest ruling comes on the back of X’s recent regulatory challenges globally. In Europe, the Musk-owned platform is under investigation for alleged violations of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) following a complaint by nine civil society groups accusing the platform of enabling targeted ads based on sensitive personal data.

Meanwhile in July, X refused to comply with a French criminal probe over suspected abuse of its algorithms and misuse of data, suggesting in a post on its social media platform that the inquiry was politically motivated.