Key points
- India ordered X to block 2,355 accounts
- Reuters accounts briefly withheld, restored later
- X alleges government press censorship under IT Act
- Legal battle ongoing over content takedown powers
ISLAMABAD: India’s government, last week, ordered X (formerly Twitter) to block over 2,000 accounts, including two belonging to Reuters News, the social media platform said on Tuesday, issuing a sharp public criticism of what it described as “ongoing press censorship” in India.
The two Reuters accounts – @Reuters and @ReutersWorld – were made inaccessible to users in India late on Saturday. They displayed a message stating they had been “withheld in IN (India) in response to a legal demand”.
Access to the accounts was restored by Sunday night, though the status of the other blocked accounts remains unclear, according to Reuters.
X says Indian government on July 3 ordered a block on two @Reuters accounts, in a sharp public attack on “ongoing press censorship” in India.
Statement contradicts comments by India Press Information Bureau that no agency asked for withholding accounts https://t.co/FU7YSSOhDn
— Aditya Kalra (@adityakalra) July 8, 2025
X’s statement appears to contradict remarks made by a spokesperson for India’s Press Information Bureau over the weekend, who claimed that no government agency had requested the suspension of the Reuters accounts.
Criminal liability
“On 3 July 2025, the Indian government directed X to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news accounts such as @Reuters and @ReutersWorld, under Section 69A of the IT Act. Non-compliance could have resulted in criminal liability,” X stated.
“We are seriously concerned about ongoing censorship of the press in India as a result of these blocking orders. X is currently exploring all legal avenues available,” the company added.
Reuters said it could not determine which specific content led to the request for removal or the reasons behind it.
Section 69A of India’s Information Technology Act permits the government to restrict public access to content in the interest of India’s sovereignty, integrity, defence, or state security. Orders issued under this section are typically confidential.
Fresh blocking order
In response, India’s IT Ministry said the government had “not issued any fresh blocking order” on 3 July. However, it did not clarify whether such an order had been made prior to that date.
The ministry also claimed there was no intention to block any major international news outlet, including Reuters, and that it had written to X over the weekend requesting the reinstatement of the agency’s accounts.
“X unnecessarily exploited procedural technicalities and failed to unblock the URLs,” the ministry said.
X, in its statement, said the Indian government had only requested restoration of the Reuters accounts following “public outcry”.
Clashing with Indian government
A Reuters spokesperson said over the weekend that the news organisation was working with X to have its accounts reinstated for users in India as quickly as possible. On Tuesday, the spokesperson said the agency had no further comment.
The main Reuters account has over 25 million followers worldwide, while Reuters World has 718,000.
X has frequently clashed with the Indian government over requests to remove content. In March, the platform filed a lawsuit against the central government over a new official website that X claims significantly expands takedown powers, allowing “countless” officials to issue content removal requests.
India, however, maintains that X mischaracterised the website, asserting it is not a “censorship portal” but rather a tool to alert tech companies to potentially harmful online material.