Elon Musk's X Cites Govt Order For Blocking Accounts In India; Rahul Gandhi Slams Centre

New Delhi: Elon Musk owned social media platform X has accused the Indian government of ordering them to take down certain accounts and posts. The company has not received any official response from the government yet. On Thursday morning, X’s Global Government Affairs published a post expressing their opposition to the order, saying that it violated the principle of freedom of expression. They said they would follow the order, but only in India.

“The Indian government has given us executive orders to remove specific accounts and posts, or face severe consequences such as huge fines and jail time. We will obey the orders and block these accounts and posts only in India; but we do not agree with these actions and believe that these posts should be free to express,” the post read.

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.

In compliance with the orders, we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however,… — Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) February 21, 2024

The Global Government Affairs of X also said that they had filed a legal appeal against the government’s orders and had notified the affected users of their actions as per their policies. “Because of legal limitations, we cannot share the executive orders, but we think that they should be made public for the sake of transparency. This secrecy can result in a lack of responsibility and random decision-making,” they added.

Rahul Gandhi Slams Centre Over X's Claims

Reacting to X's statement, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocking his 'mother of democracy' remark. Taking to X, Gandhi accused the BJP government of silencing dissent from farmers, opposition and media.

"If farmers ask for MSP, shoot them - this is the Mother of Democracy? When the youth ask for appointment, then refuse to even listen to them - this is the Mother of Democracy? If the former governor tells the truth, then send CBI to his house - this is the Mother of Democracy? Freeze the bank account of the most prominent opposition party – is this the Mother of Democracy? Section 144, internet ban, sharp wires, tear gas shells – this is the Mother of Democracy? Be it media or social media, suppressing every voice of truth - is this the Mother of Democracy? Modi ji, the public knows that you have murdered democracy and the public will answer!," the Congress MP said in his tweet.

Earlier in 2022, X's account with the Pakistan government was withheld in India. This was reportedly the second such incident in recent months. This account was withheld earlier in July 2022 as well but had been reactivated and was visible.
Later in October, based on the inputs from intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting had directed YouTube to block 45 YouTube videos from 10 YouTube channels. Orders to block the concerned videos were issued on October 23, under the provisions of the Information Technology.

The blocked videos had a cumulative viewership of over 1 crore 30 lakh views. The content included fake news and morphed videos spread with the intent to spread hatred among religious communities. Examples include false claims such as the Government has taken away the religious rights of certain communities, violent threats against religious communities, declaration of civil war in India, etc.