The Global Affairs account of X (formerly Twitter) has been withheld in India, 1 day after the Elon Musk-owned social media platform disclosed that the Indian government had instructed it to block over 8,000 accounts. Users now visiting the account see a blank page containing the message: “@GlobalAffairs has been withheld in IN according to a legal request”.
The move to withhold the Global Affairs account comes as a heat-up of military tensions between India and Pakistan as a result of Operation Sindoor launched by India in the early morning of Wednesday. The operation is alleged to target counteracting cross-border terror threats and protecting the nation from terror along vulnerable borders.
In a statement issued Thursday, X revealed that it had been served with executive orders by the Indian government to curb access to thousands of accounts, including those of international news media houses and other leading personalities. The firm also found that non-compliance would lead to dire implications, including big fines or incarceration of local staff.
Although he voiced objections, X said it would abide by the directive to prevent a total ban in the country. “Keeping the platform open to Indians despite being not an easy decision is crucial to providing the ability to access information to the Indians,” the company stated.
Moving further, X expressed concerns regarding transparency and accountability, and mentioned that due to legal curbs in India, the platform could not make the executive orders public. “We feel that publication of these orders is necessary. The lack of transparency can result in arbitrary decision making,” it said.
The move comes after an escalation in the conflict as Pakistan reportedly launched drones across at least 15 border cities in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab on Thursday night, including Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, and Chandigarh. The hostile threats posed by Indian armed forces were wiped out completely, and they asserted their readiness to come to the help of their country in the case of aggression.
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