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Social media platform X has blocked over 8,000 accounts in India following government orders, citing potential fines and jail time for non-compliance.
Social media platform X has begun blocking access to more than 8,000 accounts in India, following executive orders from the Indian government that include threats of substantial fines and jail time for the company’s local employees if non-compliance continues.
Numerous accounts are affected by the rule, including those run by well-known individuals and global news organizations. Although X (previously Twitter) vehemently denounced the lack of openness around the government's action, it stated that it was complying to prevent a wider suspension of its platform in India.
“This is not an easy decision,” the company said in a statement posted on its Global Government Affairs account. “However, keeping the platform accessible in India is vital to Indians’ ability to access information.”
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Many of the orders, according to X, were vague about what content had broken Indian law. The statement said, "The Indian government has generally not identified which posts from an account have violated India's local laws." "We did not receive any evidence or justification to block a significant number of accounts."
The platform shared the contact information of a number of legal aid groups, such as iProbono India, the National Legal Services Authority, and others, and stated that it had informed impacted users in accordance with its policy and urged them to seek legal assistance.
Crackdown on social media accounts
As tensions between India and Pakistan rise in the wake of the recent terror incident in Pahalgam, the Indian government previously suspended more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels, including a number of news sites, on the grounds that they disseminate "provocative" content.
Several prominent Pakistani public figures, including actors Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam, and cricketers such as Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shahid Afridi, and Wasim Akram, have been blocked or blacklisted across Indian platforms.
