Feb. 22 (UPI) — The social media platform X said Thursday it had blocked some accounts and posts in India in line with executive orders from the government in New Delhi that threaten hefty fines and/or imprisonment for failure to comply.
X said it would appeal the orders, which come amid a long-running free speech row between the government of Narendra Modi and the San Francisco, Calif.-based tech company, and would only apply the ban within India.
“We will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts,” the company’s Global Government Affairs unit said in a post.
“Consistent with our position, a writ appeal challenging the Indian government’s blocking orders remains pending.”
X, formerly Twitter, said it was unable to publish the government directives for legal reasons, but added that it believed that making them public was “essential for transparency” and that gagging orders promoted unaccountability and unfair policy-making.
Media in India reported the ban was related to mass protests by farmers outside Delhi demanding the government pay them higher prices for their crops, as promised in 2021.
Twitter’s co-founder, Jack Dorsey, claimed last year that the Modi government had threatened to shut down the platform in India when he was still at the helm over its refusal to suspend accounts rebuking the government for its handling of protests by farmers in 2021.
Delhi wanted 1,200 accounts removed, alleging connections to Sikh separatists in Punjab state plus another 250 or more including the accounts of journalists covering the farmers’ protests.
Twitter initially complied, suspending some accounts, but later re-instated them telling the government that its free speech doctrine meant it could not block accounts of journalists, politicians or activists.