NEW DELHI: In response to executive orders from the Indian government, social media platform ‘X’ has started blocking over 8,000 accounts in India. The move comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor.
The micro-blogging site swung into action after the government’s warning of significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees in case of non-compliance.
In a post on ‘X’, the Global Government Affairs team, late Thursday evening, said that after the orders, it had begun restricting the accounts. However, it conveyed its reservations.
To comply with the orders, we will withhold the specified accounts in India alone, it added.
“X has received executive orders from the Indian government requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees. The orders include demands to block access in India to accounts belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users... We have begun that process. However, we disagree with the Indian government’s demands,” the post read.
No immediate response from the government was available.
The company further stated that blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech.
It also said that the Indian government had not specified which posts from an account have violated India's local laws.
Explaining why it put details of the government directives on ‘X’, the company said that making these executive orders public is essential for transparency – lack of disclosure discourages accountability and can contribute to arbitrary decision making.
“Due to legal restrictions, we are unable to publish the executive orders at this time...X is exploring all possible legal avenues available to the company. Unlike users located in India, X is restricted by Indian law in its ability to bring legal challenges against these executive orders. However, we encourage all users who are impacted by these blocking orders to seek appropriate relief,” the posted also stated.
According to the post, the company has informed the affected users about the notice of the actions in accordance with its policies. “Affected users may also contact the Indian government at cyberlaw@meity.gov.in,” it also said.
