Elon Musk-owned X To Block Over 8000 Account In India After Government Order: All Details

The Indian government has directed social media platform X (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk, to block over 8,000 accounts due to alleged legal violations. In a statement released on Thursday night, the social media platform confirmed that it has begun to comply with the government’s executive orders, which also includes accounts belonging to international news organisations and many notable X users on the platform.

"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," the social media plartform said in a statement.

Although the social media platform has agreed to restrict the specified accounts, it said the order is unfair because it limits the right to free speech.

"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," the statement added.

X said that blocking the accounts was a difficult choice, but keeping the platform available in India is important so people can still access information. The company believes that sharing these government orders would help with transparency and prevent unfair decisions. However, legal rules in India prevent them from making the orders public.

The social media platform also said it is looking into all legal options it can take, but Indian laws limit what the company itself can do in court. They encouraged users affected by the blocks to go to court and seek help directly.

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