In a dramatic courtroom moment, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Friday demonstrated to the Karnataka High Court a fake, verified X (formerly Twitter) account titled 'Supreme Court of Karnataka' to underscore the unchecked misuse of social media platforms and the urgent need for regulatory oversight.

Addressing Justice M Nagaprasanna, Mehta said, “We created an account in the name of the ‘Supreme Court of Karnataka’ and it got verified by Twitter (X). I can now post anything there, and lakhs would believe it’s an official statement — while I remain anonymous.”

The demonstration came during the Centre’s opposition to a petition filed by X Corp challenging government takedown orders under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act. The SG cited the lack of effective scrutiny and the potential to spread misinformation through fake or AI-generated content.

Senior Advocate KG Raghavan, representing X, strongly objected to the demonstration, arguing that it was not on record and bypassed proper legal procedure. However, the SG clarified that the fake page was never used publicly and was shown solely to highlight the issue of impersonation.

Justice Nagaprasanna acknowledged the concern, stating that the point made was about how easy it is to misuse intermediary platforms. He also referred to similar anonymity concerns in the Proton Mail case, where offensive and morphed content was anonymously distributed via email.

Raghavan countered that such incidents aren’t unique to the digital age and cited a 2002 case where the Court took suo motu cognizance of fake offline reporting. He later confirmed that the fake 'Supreme Court of Karnataka' account had been blocked by X.

The core legal issue revolves around whether the government can issue content-blocking directions under Section 79(3)(b), or if such orders must follow the procedure outlined in Section 69A of the IT Act and accompanying Rules.

SG Mehta argued that not all harmful content falls squarely under Section 69A, yet may still warrant intervention. He cited an example of an AI-generated video impersonating a sitting judge — “unlawful,” he said, yet not clearly addressed under the current law.

Justice Nagaprasanna suggested that in such grey areas, intermediaries could at least be cautioned. The SG agreed but emphasized that platforms cannot hide behind safe harbour protections if they fail to act upon such misuse.

The hearing is scheduled to continue on July 25.