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Elon Musk-owned social media platform X has alleged that the Indian government ordered it to block 2,355 accounts in the country on July 3 under Section 69A of the IT Act.
In a post by its global government affairs account, the platform said that the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) ordered it to block these accounts within one hour, without providing any justification.
At the centre of the controversy is news agency Reuters, which saw two of its X accounts getting blocked for four days till July 6. The Indian government denied any involvement in the blocking of the accounts.
However, X alleged that the government requested it to unblock the two accounts of Reuters after “public outcry” on the issue.
“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,” the post read.
Notably, the Centre had ordered X, as per the social media platform, to block 8,000 accounts in May this year at the height of the India-Pakistan conflict. The reasoning for these directions was to curb misinformation emerging from the neighbouring country.
Reuters said that its social media team had received an email from X on May 16, notifying that its account was withheld in India. However, the news agency said it could not ascertain if the suspension of its account in July was related to the May email.
“Reuters could not ascertain if the May 16 email was linked to Saturday’s (July 5) account suspension nor could it determine what specific content the demand referred to, why its removal was sought or the entity that had lodged the complaint,” it said.
Notably, this isn’t the first time that X and the Indian government have been at loggerheads. Earlier this month, the two parties argued in court over a direction issued by the railway department to X to remove a video.
During a hearing before the Karnataka High Court on July 1, the social media platform’s counsel remarked that every “Tom, Dick and Harry” government official has been authorised to issue content takedown orders.
X has also been involved in a long legal battle over the Centre’s Sahyog Portal. The platform, which was launched earlier this year with an aim to streamline the process of sending and acting on legal notices for content removal to online platforms, was termed as a “censorship” tool by X. The government then called X’s characterisation of the platform “unfortunate” and “condemnable.”
The post Centre Vs X: Social Media Platform Claims MeitY Asked To Block 2.3K Accounts appeared first on Inc42 Media.
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