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In response to executive orders from the Indian government, the widely-used social media platform ‘X,’ owned by Elon Musk, has taken measures to block specific accounts and posts on its platform. The move comes as the Indian government asserts regulatory actions, wielding potential penalties, including hefty fines and imprisonment.
The Global Government Affairs division of ‘X’ issued a statement, acknowledging the executive orders and expressing compliance, albeit with a clear disagreement on the restriction of freedom of expression inherent in these actions.
In a post, X said that “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.”
The company made it clear that it wasn’t in favour of doing so. “However, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts,” X said.
Furthermore, the social media platform said that the blocked accounts have been notified about withholding of their accounts. “Consistent with our position, a writ appeal challenging the Indian government’s blocking orders remains pending. We have also provided the impacted users with notice of these actions in accordance with our policies,” the company said.
X also said that while it is unable to to publish the executive orders — because of legal restrictions — it believes that making them public is essential for transparency. “This lack of disclosure can lead to a lack of accountability and arbitrary decision-making,” the social media platform added.
This development follows a similar incident in 2022 when X had withheld its account related to the Pakistan government in India. This action marks the second instance in recent months, with the account having been previously withheld in July 2022 but subsequently reactivated and visible.
The Global Government Affairs division of ‘X’ issued a statement, acknowledging the executive orders and expressing compliance, albeit with a clear disagreement on the restriction of freedom of expression inherent in these actions.
In a post, X said that “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.”
The company made it clear that it wasn’t in favour of doing so. “However, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts,” X said.
Furthermore, the social media platform said that the blocked accounts have been notified about withholding of their accounts. “Consistent with our position, a writ appeal challenging the Indian government’s blocking orders remains pending. We have also provided the impacted users with notice of these actions in accordance with our policies,” the company said.
X also said that while it is unable to to publish the executive orders — because of legal restrictions — it believes that making them public is essential for transparency. “This lack of disclosure can lead to a lack of accountability and arbitrary decision-making,” the social media platform added.
This development follows a similar incident in 2022 when X had withheld its account related to the Pakistan government in India. This action marks the second instance in recent months, with the account having been previously withheld in July 2022 but subsequently reactivated and visible.
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