Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has announced that it has begun blocking access to thousands of accounts within India following orders from the Indian government.

In a post on its Global Government Affairs handle on Thursday, X stated that it had received executive orders from the Indian government requiring the platform to block over 8,000 accounts in India. The company cited potential penalties, including significant fines and imprisonment of its local employees, as reasons for complying with the directives.

“To comply with the orders, we will withhold the specified accounts in India alone. We have begun that process,” X stated. However, the platform also expressed its disagreement with the government’s demands. “We disagree with the Indian government’s demands. Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech.”

X also noted that in many cases, the Indian government had not specified which posts from an account allegedly violated local laws, and for a significant number of accounts, no evidence or justification for the blocking requests was provided.

The move comes at a time of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, following India’s claims of targeting “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and subsequent reports of cross-border attacks. The government has been actively monitoring social media for misinformation following these events.

X has indicated that it is exploring all available legal avenues to challenge the government’s orders and has encouraged affected users to seek legal relief. The platform has also notified the users impacted by these restrictions.

Key Highlights:

• X has begun blocking access to over 8,000 accounts in India following government orders.
• The company is complying due to potential penalties but disagrees with the demands, citing free speech concerns.
• X states that many blocking orders lacked specific justification.
• The action occurs amidst rising tensions between India and Pakistan.
  X is exploring legal options and has notified affected users.