Elon Musk owned X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday said that India has asked it to block 8,000 accounts on the social media platform. The announcement comes amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack, which resulted in the death of 26.
"X has received executive orders from the Indian government requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees. The orders include demands to block access in India to accounts belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users," X said in a statement.
While the micro blogging site confirmed it would comply by restricting access to the listed accounts within India, ‘X’ said that it is “not an easy decision”. The platform highlighted the need to maintain its services in India. “Keeping the platform accessible in India is vital to Indians’ ability to access information.”
X further expressed concerns over legal limitations that prevent the publication of the executive orders. “We believe that making these executive orders public is essential for transparency – lack of disclosure discourages accountability and can contribute to arbitrary decision making,” it said.
India bans Pakistani YouTube channels, public fugures
Earlier also the Indian government had banned over a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels, including several news outlets, citing them of spreading “provocative” content, as tensions between India and Pakistan escalate following the recent terror attack in Pahalgam.
Access to the Instagram account of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has also been restricted in India.
Several prominent Pakistani public figures, including actors Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam, and cricketers such as Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shahid Afridi, and Wasim Akram, have been blocked or blacklisted across Indian platforms.
The crackdown comes amid a surge of misinformation online after India's Operation Sindoor, with social media users widely sharing manipulated or outdated visuals, including deepfake videos, falsely attributed to recent cross-border developments.
