'Tom, Dick and Harry' remark brings trouble for Elon Musk's X in India: Here's what happened

A comment by an advocate appearing for a case of Elon Musk's company X (formerly Twitter) has become a reason for latest trouble for the company in India. During a hearing of a matter, Senior Advocate KG Raghavan, appearing for the company, said that every 'Tom, Dick, and Harry' - has been given the authority to issue content takedown orders. Taking a strong stance against his remarks in the courtroom, India's Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that they are union officers and warned against the ‘arrogance.’

What happened in the courtroom?

The Karnataka High Court was hearing about a notice sent to X by the Ministry of Railways urging it to disable access to a video of a woman driving her car on railway tracks in Hyderabad. "This is the danger, My Lord, that is done now, if every Tom, Dick, and Harry officer is authorised," Raghavan told the court. “Some women drove a car on the railway track. Milords knows dog biting man is not news but man biting dog is news. Photos/videos were put up on social media, can that be unlawful content in this country today?" Raghavan added.

The phrase triggered immediate condemnation from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who slammed the characterisation of government officials. “I take objection to this, they are officers and not tom, dick and harry. They are statutory functionaries, empowered to take action. International bodies should not have this arrogance.” He added, “No social media intermediary can expect completely unregulated functioning. They are bound by regulations in all other countries but in India they want this luxury.”

The notice came up during a hearing of a 2021 case that involves X vs the government of India - in which X refused to comply with orders to block specific tweets. Though the platform eventually complied, it continues to fight the matter in the court. The final hearing of the case is scheduled on July 8.