People don't read newspapers, they use phones: SG Tushar Mehta in X vs Govt case

SG Tushar Mehta was arguing at the Karnataka HC in the ongoing case where X has sued the Indian government

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Thursday argued at the Karnataka High Court that the internet’s scale justifies a different regulatory approach from that of newspapers and television, and opined that digital platforms have overtaken traditional media as the primary source of information.

“People don’t even read newspapers, they use phone,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said while appearing in the ongoing case filed by X Corp (formerly Twitter).

Mehta said the internet has evolved into a powerful medium that shapes public opinion and influences democratic processes, making timely regulation necessary.

He noted that the internet was never intended to scale to its current form.

“It was never contemplated that it would grow so much. It was a military program. They took advantage, began using [it] for communication with civil forces,” he said.

In a separate remark, Mehta raised concerns about the growing use of AI in the legal profession, particularly the reliability of generative AI models like ChatGPT. He said, "There are cases where lawyers start using AI for research. AI hallucinates. ChatGPT creates tailor made cases.”

The hearing will continue later on July 18, with the court hearing the government's full response to X Corp’s challenge against India’s content blocking framework.