Social media company X $TWTR posted on Tuesday that the Indian government ordered the company to block 2,355 accounts in the country, including those belonging to Reuters.
The X accounts were briefly withheld after an urgent order from India’s IT ministry, according to X.
Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images
Social media company X $TWTR posted on Tuesday that the Indian government ordered the company to block 2,355 accounts in the country, including those belonging to Reuters.
“On July 3, 2025, the Indian government ordered X to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like @Reuters and @ReutersWorld, under Section 69A of the IT Act,” X’s global government affairs team wrote. “Non-compliance risked criminal liability. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology demanded immediate action- within one hour- without providing justification, and required the accounts to remain blocked until further notice.
“After public outcry, the government requested X to unblock @Reuters and @ReutersWorld.
“We are deeply concerned about ongoing press censorship in India due to these blocking orders. X is exploring all legal options available. Unlike users located in India, X is restricted by Indian law in its ability to bring legal challenges against these executive orders. We urge affected users to pursue legal remedies through the courts.”
The main Reuters account, along with ReutersWorld, was blocked for users in India on Saturday. Screenshots showed a message that read: “Account withheld @Reuters has been withheld in IN in response to a legal demand.” However, India’s Press Information Bureau told Reuters that no government agency had ordered the block and said it was working with X to resolve the issue.
“The Government has not issued any fresh blocking order on 3rd July, 2025 and has no intention to block any prominent international News Channels including Reuters and Reuters World,” the ministry said. “The moment Reuters and Reuters World were blocked on X platform in India, immediately the government wrote to ‘X’ to unblock them. The Government continuously engaged and vigorously pursued with ‘X’ from the late night of 5th July 2025.”
The accounts were restored on Sunday. X didn’t name any of the other accounts that it said were blocked (beyond those owned by Reuters).
The reported blocking order is the latest development in a continuing legal battle between X and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. In March, X sued India’s IT ministry, accusing it of unlawfully expanding its online censorship powers to make it easier to remove content from the platform.
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