Elon Musk's social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has voiced strong concerns regarding "ongoing press censorship" in India, stating that the Indian government ordered the platform to block over 2,300 accounts, including those of international news agency Reuters, without providing justification. This move has sparked a dispute between X and the Indian government, with the latter denying the claims and accusing X of "exploiting technicalities".
X's Global Government Affairs team stated that on July 3, 2025, they received an order from the Indian government to block 2,355 accounts under Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act. They claim that non-compliance with the order carried the risk of criminal liability. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) allegedly demanded immediate action, within one hour, without providing any justification for the blocks and required the accounts to remain blocked until further notice.
The blocked accounts included those of Reuters and Reuters World, leading to public outcry. X claims that after this outcry, the government requested them to unblock these specific accounts. X unblocked the Reuters accounts on Sunday, a day after they were initially blocked.
However, the Indian government has refuted X's claims. A spokesperson for MEITY stated that no fresh blocking order was issued on July 3, 2025, and that there was no intention to block any prominent international news channels, including Reuters and Reuters World. The government claims that it immediately contacted X to unblock the Reuters accounts as soon as they were blocked and "continuously engaged and vigorously pursued" the matter with X from the night of July 5, 2025. The ministry further accused X of "unnecessarily exploited technicalities involved around the process" and took more than 21 hours to restore access to the accounts. Indian authorities stated that they followed up with the social media platform "a lot" on an hourly basis, after which X finally unblocked the accounts.
X has expressed deep concern over the blocking orders and stated that it is exploring all legal options available. The platform argues that, unlike users in India, it is restricted by Indian law in its ability to legally challenge these executive orders. X is urging affected users to pursue legal remedies through the courts.
This is not the first time X has faced such issues in India. In May 2025, X revealed that it had received executive orders from the Indian government to block over 8,000 accounts, including those belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users. The platform stated that non-compliance could result in significant fines and imprisonment for its local employees.
The Indian government's stance is that its IT law, passed in 2000, allows designated government officials to demand the removal of content from social media platforms if it violates local laws, including those related to national security or public order. During events like "Operation Sindoor," the government has directed social media platforms to block content and accounts that it believed were spreading misinformation or undermining the armed forces.
