X says Centre ordered it to block 2,355 accounts, including Reuters; MeitY denies claim
NEW DELHI: Social media platform X on Tuesday alleged that the Indian government ordered it to block thousands of accounts in the country, including those belonging to international news wire Reuters and ReutersWorld, without providing any proper justification.
However, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has pushed back, saying it had immediately written back to X instructing the platform to unblock the news outlets’ handle.
The claim and counterclaim come amid Monday’s reports that Reuters’ X handle, along with several hundred other accounts, had been withheld in India “in response to a legal demand” allegedly made by the government during Operation Sindoor in May.
And on Tuesday, X posted from its Global Affairs handle that MeitY had ordered the platform to block 2,355 accounts, including those of Reuters and ReutersWorld, demanding “immediate action — within an hour” and instructing that the accounts “remain blocked until further notice.”
“On July 3, 2025, the Indian government ordered X to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like Reuters and ReutersWorld , under Section 69A of the IT Act. Non-compliance risked criminal liability,” X wrote via its Global Government Affairs handle.
This led to the global news agency's account was temporarily removed from the platform. Later, X reported that after public outcry, the government requested the company to unblock it.
The platform also expressed serious concern over what it described as ongoing press censorship in India and said it is exploring all available legal options.
“We are deeply concerned about ongoing press censorship in India due to these blocking orders. X is exploring all legal options available. Unlike users located in India, X is restricted by Indian law in its ability to bring legal challenges against these executive orders. We urge affected users to pursue legal remedies through the courts,” said the platform.
Meanwhile, the IT Ministry has denied X's charges, saying that it had "no intention to block any prominent international news channels including Reuters and ReutersWorld."
"The government has not issued any fresh blocking order on 3rd July, 2025 and has no intention to block any prominent international news channels including Reuters and ReutersWorld. The moment Reuters and ReutersWorld were blocked on X platform in India, immediately the government wrote to X to unblock them," a MeitY spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added: "The government continuously engaged and vigorously pursued with X from the late night of 5th July 2025. X has unnecessarily exploited technicalities involved around the process and didn’t unblock the URLs. However, after a lot of follow-up on hourly basis, X has finally unblocked Reuters and other URLs after 9 pm on 6th July 2025. They took more than 21 hours to unblock Reuters."
The IT ministry also denied issuing specific instructions to block the international news wire's accounts, suggesting a possible miscommunication or lack of clarity in the process.
Notably, this is not the first time the government and X have clashed.
X has previously challenged the government's use of content-blocking powers—particularly the alleged misuse of Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, which, according to X, bypasses the procedural safeguards of Section 69A. In a case before the Karnataka High Court, X argued that blocking orders must follow proper procedures, including the provision of reasons and prior notice.
It is also opposed the government’s new Sahyog portal, terming it a ‘censorship portal’, which allows all government agencies --from Union Ministries down to local police stations -- to issue blocking orders, using a Central government-issued template.
According to a 2022 report from the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), from 2014 to 2020, India issued 27,811 blocking orders, targeting 40,413 pieces of content or accounts. This included 9,849 orders in 2020 alone, affecting over 13,000 items. In 2023, a notable case involved the blocking of accounts linked to the farmers' protests and pro-Khalistani content.
In 2024, reports indicate that India continued issuing blocking orders, including against accounts related to political dissent and sensitive international issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict.
A February 2024 post from X's Global Government Affairs team confirmed compliance with an Indian order to block accounts and posts, though specific numbers were not disclosed.
Under Section 69A of the IT Act, the Indian government is empowered to block public access to online content if it is deemed necessary for reasons such as national security, sovereignty, public order, or preventing incitement to cognizable offenses.