Farmers' protest: X blocks accounts after Centre's order, expresses disagreement
What's the story
Elon Musk's microblogging site X said that the Indian government has issued executive orders demanding it to take action against specific accounts and posts or face penalties. X has complied and some accounts related to farmers' protests have now been suspended. The social media company stated that not obeying the orders could have led to "significant fines and imprisonment." X, however, disagrees with these orders, arguing that freedom of expression should apply to the content in question.
Twitter Post
Take a look at X's post
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.
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) February 21, 2024
In compliance with the orders, we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however,…
Transparency issues
Legal restrictions prevent publishing executive orders
The X team also revealed that they cannot publish executive orders issued by the Indian government due to legal constraints. However, it believes that making them public is crucial for transparency. X's Global Government Affairs team added that a writ appeal contesting the Indian government's blocking orders is still pending. In line with X's policies, affected users have been notified of these actions. However, it is unclear how many total accounts have been suspended.
The background
History of disagreements between X and Indian government
The situation is the latest in a series of disputes between the microblogging site and the Indian government. Back in 2021, when it was still known as Twitter and under different leadership, the platform had objected to the Centre's guidelines, voicing concerns about the "potential threat to freedom of expression." The government responded by urging the platform to comply with local laws instead of "dictating terms" to the world's largest democracy.
Curbing protests
Government measures to curb farmers' protest
Apart from targeting X accounts of some users, previously the government has used a set of measures to contain the farmers' protest. The Haryana government has imposed a ban on mobile internet, bulk SMS services, and dongle internet services in seven districts until February 23. These districts include Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa.