Farmers’ Protest: ’We will withhold but disagree...’, Elon Musk’s X complies with India’s orders to suspend accounts
X (formerly Twitter), under Elon Musk's ownership, has followed Indian government orders to suspend accounts and posts related to the farmers' protest. Despite compliance, the company asserts its commitment to freedom of expression and transparency.
X (formerly Twitter), owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has confirmed compliance with executive orders issued by the Indian government demanding the suspension of specific accounts and posts that are allegedly associated with the farmers' Delhi Chalo protest.
The social media company has expressed its disagreement with the Indian government's directives and emphasized its commitment to freedom of expression.
“The Indian government has issued executive orders requiring X to act on specific accounts and posts, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment,” the official Global Government Affairs account of X wrote on the microblogging site.
“In compliance with the orders, we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts,” it said.
The Global Government Affairs also informed that a writ appeal challenging the Indian government's blocking orders remains pending. “We have also provided the impacted users with notice of these actions in accordance with our policies.”
Due to legal restrictions, X said it is unable to publish the executive orders but said that making them public is essential for transparency because the lack of disclosure can lead to a lack of accountability and arbitrary decision-making.
This came after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) finalized its emergency order directing top social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), and Snap to block 177 accounts and links related to the farmers' protest to maintain 'public order'.
MeitY issued the emergency orders at the behest of the Ministry of Home Affairs, and these were in addition to the final orders issued on 14 February. The report notes that both the blocking orders issued on 14 and 19 February are conditional and have been issued till the duration of the protest, after which the social media companies can restore these accounts and channels.
The orders were issued against 35 Facebook links, 35 Facebook accounts, 14 Instagram accounts, 42 X accounts, 49 X links, 1 Snapchat, and 1 Reddit account. Notably, while it is common for the government to take down Facebook and X accounts, this is the first time the Centre has issued a blocking order against Snap.
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Business NewsNewsIndiaFarmers’ Protest: ’We will withhold but disagree...’, Elon Musk’s X complies with India’s orders to suspend accounts
First Published:22 Feb 2024, 09:23 AM IST
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