The government on Thursday said that it has "not sent any notice" to Gork or micro-blogging platform X (formerly Twitter) over the chatbot purportedly using Hindi slang in its reply and is in discussions with the officials to understand what Indian law it is violating, reports ANI.
"MeitY has not sent any notice to Grok or X. It is in talks with X and Grok. MeitY officials are interacting with the officials of X and examining at what stage it specifically violated and which Indian law has been violated," government sources told news agency ANI.
This comes after a lawsuit was filed by Elon Musk-owned X against the central government, alleging the misuse of the IT Act to block content on the platform.
The case has been submitted to the Karnataka High Court.
The legal petition contests what X describes as "unlawful content regulation and arbitrary censorship". The platform has expressed concerns regarding the government's interpretation of the Information Technology (IT) Act, specifically Section 79(3)(b), which according to X, contradicts Supreme Court decisions and restricts online expression, PTI reported.
According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), Section 79(3)(b) mandates online platforms to remove illegal content when directed by either a court order or a government notification.
If a platform fails to comply within 36 hours, it risks losing its safe harbor protection under Section 79(1) and could be held accountable under various laws, including the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
However, X has contested this interpretation, arguing that the provision does not grant the government independent authority to block content.
Instead, it accused authorities of misusing the law to impose arbitrary censorship without following due process.