Elon Musk-owned social media platform X has commenced the process of blocking over 8,000 accounts within India, adhering to executive orders issued by the Indian government. This action follows warnings of substantial fines and potential imprisonment for the company’s local employees in cases of non-compliance.

The directive encompasses accounts operated by international news organisations and prominent users. In a statement released on its Global Government Affairs handle, X expressed its disagreement with the government’s demands, stating that blocking entire accounts is unnecessary and amounts to censorship. The company highlighted that, in most cases, the government did not specify which posts violated local laws, nor provided evidence justifying the blocks.

X emphasised that while it is complying with the orders to avoid potential penalties, it is doing so under protest. The platform underscored the importance of keeping its services accessible in India to ensure the public’s ability to access information.

The company also noted legal constraints preventing it from publishing the executive orders, citing the need for transparency and accountability. X is exploring all possible legal avenues and has encouraged affected users to seek appropriate relief from the courts.

Here is X’s Global Government Affairs’ statement:

“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.

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.

This is not an easy decision, however keeping the platform accessible in India is vital to Indians’ ability to access information.

We believe that making these executive orders public is essential for transparency – lack of disclosure discourages accountability and can contribute to arbitrary decision making. However, due to legal restrictions, we are unable to publish the executive orders at this time.

X is exploring all possible legal avenues available to the company. Unlike users located in India, X is restricted by Indian law in its ability to bring legal challenges against these executive orders. However, we encourage all users who are impacted by these blocking orders to seek appropriate relief from the courts.

Users may contact any of the below legal aid organizations:

iProbono India (i-probono.in)

National Legal Services Authority (nalsa.gov.in)

Karnataka Legal Services Authority (kslsa.kar.nic.in)

Supreme Court Legal Services (sci.gov.in/legal-aid)

We have provided the affected users with notice of the actions in accordance with our policies. Affected users may also contact the Indian government at cyberlaw@meity.gov.in.”