X says India ordered it to block 8,000 accounts or face jail for local staff
Press Information Bureau / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
- X said it was ordered to restrict thousands of accounts in India.
- The company said its staff in India faced "significant fines and imprisonment" if it didn't comply.
- The takedown request follows a Kashmir terror attack that has reignited India-Pakistan tensions.
Elon Musk's X says India's government has ordered it to block more than 8,000 accounts in the country or potentially face "significant fines and imprisonment" for local X staff.
The company's global government affairs team said Thursday that it had begun restricting access to the flagged accounts in India.
"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 global government affairs team account wrote in an
X said the order, which comes as tensions escalate between India and Pakistan, includes demands to block international news organizations and high-profile users.
X added that it disagreed with the demands, which amounted to "censorship of existing and future content," but said it would "withhold the specified accounts in India alone."
The directive appears to be part of a wider crackdown targeting social media accounts tied to Pakistani politicians, media outlets, and celebrities.
India has also blocked more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels in recent weeks, accusing them of spreading "provocative" content. Several of the blocked channels belong to Pakistani news outlets.
Meta blocked access to a prominent Muslim news page on Instagram in India at the government's request, the page's founder said Wednesday.
Military clashes between India and Pakistan have ramped up in recent days following a deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir last month that killed 26 people.
"In most cases, the Indian government has not specified which posts from an account have violated India's local laws. For a significant number of accounts, we did not receive any evidence or justification to block the accounts", X's global affairs team continued.
The takedown request could add tension to Musk's expanding business interests in India. India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, spoke with Musk in April about increasing tech collaboration. Tesla is planning to open showroom locations in Delhi and Mumbai, and Musk's satellite company, Starlink, is seeking final approval to launch satellite internet in the country.
A spokesperson from X and India's government did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BI.