The Indian government has denied claims made by social media platform X that it ordered the blocking of over 2,000 accounts—including those belonging to international news agency Reuters—on 3 July.
Responding to the allegations, an official spokesperson said there was "no fresh blocking order" and insisted that the government had "no intention to block any prominent international news channels, including Reuters and ReutersWorld."
The government also asserted that it had requested X to restore Reuters’s accounts as soon as they were found to be withheld in India. However, officials said the platform took more than 21 hours to comply, finally restoring access after 9 p.m. on 6 July.
The controversy began after X, formerly known as Twitter, stated that it had received an official order from the Indian government on 3 July under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. The order allegedly directed the platform to block 2,355 accounts, including @Reuters and @ReutersWorld.
"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," X said via its Global Government Affairs account.
X added that it was "deeply concerned about ongoing press censorship in India due to these blocking orders" and was reviewing "all legal options available."
The company further advised affected users to explore legal remedies through the courts, noting that it is restricted by Indian law from independently challenging executive orders in court.
The Indian government, however, pushed back against these claims. "The moment Reuters and ReutersWorld were blocked on the X platform in India, the government immediately wrote to X to unblock them," the spokesperson said. "We have not issued any fresh blocking orders on 3 July 2025."
The official added that the government had been in continuous engagement with X from the late night of 5 July.
Despite repeated follow-ups on an hourly basis, X delayed action by citing procedural and technical issues, officials said. Eventually, the Reuters accounts were restored on 6 July, but not before a prolonged delay of more than 21 hours.
On Sunday, the Centre issued a separate clarification, stating that no formal legal request had been made to X to block Reuters's handle.
The clarification came shortly after the @Reuters account appeared to be inaccessible in India, with a standard message on the platform saying the account was "withheld in IN in response to a legal demand."
"There is no requirement from the Government of India to withhold the Reuters handle. We are continuously working with X to resolve the problem," the spokesperson reiterated.
News agency PTI, citing government sources, reported that the order to block Reuters had originally been issued on 7 May during Operation Sindoor, a national security operation. However, the order was never enforced. Officials now believe that X mistakenly acted on the older directive.
"A blocking order was issued on 7 May during Operation Sindoor, but it was not executed. X seems to have enforced that order now, which is a mistake on their part. The government has reached out to X to resolve it at the earliest," said one official familiar with the matter.
Following the incident, government officials denied making any new blocking requests and demanded an explanation from the platform. They also formally asked X to lift the ban.
While associated X accounts such as Reuters Tech News, Reuters Fact Check, Reuters Asia, and Reuters China remained accessible in India, the primary Reuters handle and ReutersWorld were not.
Users attempting to view those accounts were met with a message reading: "Account withheld. @Reuters has been withheld in IN in response to a legal demand."
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