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Key Points

The Indian government has strongly refuted claims by Elon Musk's X platform about blocking Reuters accounts on July 3rd. Officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) stated they issued no new blocking orders and actively worked to restore Reuters' access. The dispute seems to stem from a potential misunderstanding of an older May 7th order related to Operation Sindoor. The government emphasized its commitment to maintaining access for international news platforms and maintaining open communication with social media companies.

Key Points: India Denies Blocking Reuters X Account Amid Musk Dispute

  • Government continuously engaged with X to unblock Reuters
  • No fresh blocking order issued on July 3
  • May 7 order from Operation Sindoor was not originally enforced
  • X appears to have mistakenly blocked accounts
2 min read

No fresh order to block Reuters' account: Govt rejects X claims

Government rejects X's claims of blocking Reuters accounts, clarifies no new order issued and worked to unblock news platform

"The Government has not issued any fresh blocking order - MeitY Spokesperson"

New Delhi, July 8

The Centre on Tuesday rejected Elon Musk-run X's claims that it had directed the social media platform to block 2,355 accounts within the country, including Reuters, on July 3.

According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), no such fresh blocking order or request was made to X.

After the Reuters account was withheld earlier this month, the government, in fact, continuously engaged with X to unblock it. After a lot of follow-ups, X finally unblocked Reuters and other URLs on July 6.

A MeitY spokesperson said: "The Government has not issued any fresh blocking order on 3rd July, 2025 and has no intention to block any prominent international News Channels, including Reuters and Reuters World. The moment Reuters and Reuters World were blocked on the X platform in India, immediately the government wrote to 'X' to unblock them."

An order was issued on May 7 during Operation Sindoor, but it was not enforced. In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, India had issued a flurry of orders to take down posts and block accounts owing to national security concerns.

X appears to have enforced that order now, which is a mistake on their part. The government had reached out to the company to resolve this issue.

The clarification came after Musk-owned X claimed that it was directed by the Indian government to block more than 2,300 accounts, including the official handles of the global news agency Reuters.

According to the X's Global Government Affairs handle, on July 3, 2025, the Indian government ordered X to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like Reuters and ReutersWorld, under Section 69A of the IT Act.

"Non-compliance risked criminal liability. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology demanded immediate action- within one hour- without providing justification and required the accounts to remain blocked until further notice," the social media platform claimed.

The government later requested X to unblock Reuters and ReutersWorld, according to X.

Earlier, the government had denied any role in the suspension of Reuters' X account. "There is no requirement from the Government of India to withhold the Reuters handle. We are continuously working with X to resolve the problem," a government official had said. It appears that X may have mistakenly enforced an outdated order.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

S
Shreya B
Seems like a classic case of miscommunication between X and our government. But I'm glad Reuters was unblocked quickly. International media credibility matters for India's image abroad.
A
Aman W
Why is X implementing old orders now? This smells fishy. Either our babus messed up or Musk is playing games. Either way, common people suffer when news sources get blocked.
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Priya S
The government's quick response to unblock Reuters is appreciated. But we need clearer guidelines on social media censorship. National security is important, but so is press freedom.
D
David E
As an expat in India, this kind of back-and-forth between platforms and government makes me nervous. India needs stable digital policies to attract foreign investment.
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Vikram M
Operation Sindoor was necessary at that time, but orders should have clear expiry dates. Can't have social media companies randomly implementing old directives. System needs fixing!

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