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X discloses Indian Government ordered it to block 2,355 accounts, including that of @Reuters on July 3

X discloses Indian Government ordered it to block 2,355 accounts, including that of @Reuters on July 3


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Micro-blogging site X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday said that on July 3, 2025, the Indian government ordered it to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like @Reuters and @ReutersWorld, under, Section 69A of the IT Act.

“The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MietY) demanded immediate action — within one hour — without providing justification, and required the accounts to remain blocked until further notice,” it said in a statement.

However, after a public outcry, the government requested X to unblock @Reuters and @ReutersWorld, it added.

“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,” the Elon Musk owned company said in a post.

In May also, over 8,000 accounts, most of them Pakistani apparently, were withheld in India at the behest of MeitY. Some of them belonged to Indian entities, including those of New Delhi-based news portal Maktoob News, Srinagar-based journalist Anuradha Bhasin, and political content creator Arpit Sharma.

News portal ‘The Wire’, whose account was also blocked, said the move was “a clear violation of the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press,” and termed it an arbitrary and inexplicable move.

“We protest this blatant censorship at a critical time for India when sane, truthful, fair and rational voices and sources of news and information are among the biggest assets that India has,” The Wire said.

Meanwhile, the MeitY on Sunday had said that “There is no requirement from the Government of India to withhold the Reuters handle. We are continuously working with X to resolve the problem.”

But, X has now officially announced that the Indian Government had indeed asked the site to block the said number (2,355) of accounts in India, including those of international news outlets @Reuters and @ReutersWorld.

Comments sought from MeitY were immediately not available to this newspaper.

Published on July 8, 2025



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