- India has ordered X to block over 8,000 accounts, the social media company said on May 8, 2025
- X deemed India’s orders as censorship and urged account holders to legally challenge the blocks
- Both India and Pakistan have intensified internet censorship as the conflict between the two countries continues to escalate
India has issued executive orders to X, asking the social media company to block over 8,000 accounts across the country. The targets, X explains, include accounts belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users.
X’s Global Government Affairs team disclosed the details in a lengthy tweet on Thursday, May 8, 2025, deeming these requests as “censorship” and urging account holders based in India to legally challenge the blocks.
“Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech,” wrote X.
X disagrees but it’s “restricted by Indian law”
“To comply with the orders, we will withhold the specified accounts in India alone. We have begun that process,” wrote X, adding that the company disagrees with the Indian government’s demands.
This means, however, that blocked account holders may be able to keep accessing the platform by using one of the best VPN services to spoof their IP address location.
“X is exploring all possible legal avenues available to the company. Unlike users located in India, X is restricted by Indian law in its ability to bring legal challenges against these executive orders,” the company added, while encouraging all users impacted to seek appropriate relief from the courts.
The social media company even shared a list of legal aid organizations that could help people challenging these blocking orders, and asserted that it had notified those impacted by these actions.
X’s Global Government Affairs account was temporarily withheld in India, as reported by Indian technology journalist Adit Agrawal on her LinkedIn account.
The account was restored on Friday morning. According to a person aware of the matter, Agrawal reported, X blocked the account without an official order after authorities asked the company about the tweet.
“Now MeitY has issued an order to X to NOT block it, as per this person,” wrote Agrawal.
India/Pakistan information crackdown
X’s blocking orders coincide with a spike in internet censorship across the country as the conflict with the neighboring Pakistan intensifies.
On Wednesday, May 7, Meta also blocked a major Muslim news page on Instagram at the authorities’ request, as reported by The Guardian.
On Thursday, India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting also issued an advisory urging all media companies, streaming services, and online platforms to block all content originating from Pakistan.
On his side, Pakistan has resumed access to X on Wednesday after a 15-month-long ban.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) also blocked access to at least 16 YouTube news channels and 32 websites from India on the same day, for allegedly spreading misinformation and anti-Pakistan propaganda.
As reported by the BBC, India and Pakistan blame each other for escalating military tensions and have both been launching a series of missiles and drone strikes since Wednesday. This represents a major escalation of existing tensions over the disputed area of Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed countries.
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