X (previously Twitter), a social media network controlled by Elon Musk, announced that the Indian government has ordered it to remove over 8,000 accounts for breaking local laws. These accounts include those of certain “international news organizations” and “prominent X users.” The official X’s Global Government Affairs handle shared the message, stating that it has followed with the directives and initiated the process of withholding the designated accounts within the nation. “However, 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,” it added.
According to its regulations, the business has informed the impacted users of the steps, the statement continued.
Read Twitter’s full statement on Block order by Indian government:
X has received executive orders from the Indian government requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees. The orders include demands to block access in India to accounts belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users.
In most cases, the Indian government has not specified which posts from an account have violated India’s local laws. For a significant number of accounts, we did not receive any evidence or justification to block the accounts.
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. 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.
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.
Users may contact any of the below legal aid organizations:
iProbono India (http://i-probono.in)
National Legal Services Authority (http://nalsa.gov.in)
Karnataka Legal Services Authority (http://kslsa.kar.nic.in)
Supreme Court Legal Services (http://sci.gov.in/legal-aid)
We have provided the affected users with notice of the actions in accordance with our policies. Affected users may also contact the Indian government at [email protected].
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