Social media platform X on Thursday said it had blocked 8,000 accounts in India following executive orders from the government.
X said it received executive orders from the Indian government requiring it to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties, including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees.
“To comply with the orders, we will withhold the specified accounts in India alone. We have begun that process. However, we disagree with the Indian government’s demands,” X said in a post on its Global Government Affairs handle.
“This is not an easy decision, however, keeping the platform accessible in India is vital to Indians’ ability to access information. We believe that making these executive orders public is essential for transparency — lack of disclosure discourages accountability and can contribute to arbitrary decision-making. However, 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 from the courts,” it said.
X, which has been in a prolonged legal battle with the Centre over the blocking of accounts, posted contacts on free legal aid services.
In Srinagar, police booked three men for spreading misinformation and inflammatory content on social media about the current conflict.
Saudi message
Saudi Arabia’s deputy foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir landed in Delhi on Thursday to meet India’s top leadership with a focus on de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
Al-Jubeir, on an unannounced visit to India, is learnt to have carried a message from the Saudi leadership. “A good meeting with @AdelAljubeir, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia this morning,” Jaishankar said in a social media post.