Journalist challenges police request for X account data in Supreme Court

Independent journalist Abhishek Upadhyay, who operates the digital news platform ‘Top Secret’, has approached India's Supreme Court challenging a notice from the Ghaziabad Crime Branch. The notice seeks extensive data from his X account (formerly Twitter) in connection with an FIR over an alleged road-rage incident.

The police notice requests account and device information dating back to June 1, nearly three months before the alleged incident on August 18. Upadhyay was the first to report allegations of theft and irregularities involving donations at the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, with his first reports published on June 7.

Upadhyay questions the scope and timing of the police's data request. "Why do they need my mobile details, my logins, my logouts, my digital footprints? If, in any way, they are seeking this information, then they should seek it for the day of the alleged accident, which was 18 August. Why are they demanding it from 1 June?" he told MediaNama.

The case is scheduled for hearing by the Supreme Court on September 7. Upadhyay argues that the broad request threatens press freedom and the confidentiality of journalistic sources. He contends that such disclosure could identify and map individuals who communicated with him, including confidential sources, and reconstruct his digital associations and movements.