New Delhi: Elon Musk-owned social media platform X on Tuesday (July 8) refuted the Indian government claim over the blocking orders for Reuters’ account, stating that the company had on July 3 received orders to block 2,355 handles, including that of the news agency.

Along with Reuters and Reuters World, the X accounts of Chinese paper Global Times and the Turkish public broadcaster TRT News were also withheld in India, presumably since the night of July 5, in response to what the accounts cited as a “legal demand”.

In a post on its Global Government Affairs handle, X stated, “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.”

Noting that “after public outcry, the government requested X to unblock @Reuters and @ReutersWorld”, the statement also raised concern over press censorship in India and highlighted that X is restricted by the Indian law to bring any legal challenges against such executive orders.

“We are deeply concerned about ongoing press censorship in India due to these blocking orders. X is exploring all legal options available. Unlike users located in India, X is restricted by Indian law in its ability to bring legal challenges against these executive orders. We urge affected users to pursue legal remedies through the courts,” it added.

The statement comes as an official spokesperson of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was quoted by news agencies as having said that “there is no requirement from the government of India to withhold the Reuters handle. We are continuously working with ‘X’ to resolve the problem.”

Meanwhile, news agency PTI had quoted an unnamed government source as having said that a demand for blocking Reuters’ X account alongside several hundreds of other accounts was made during Operation Sindoor and it appears that X has now acted on this demand.

It must be recollected that The Wire was among news outlets whose webpages or social media accounts were blocked at that time. The X accounts of news platforms BBC Urdu and Outlook India were also briefly withheld before the order being revoked.

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