India Orders Blocks on Some Social Media Accounts Amid Protests

Swati Gupta, Bloomberg News

Demonstrators run for cover as police fire tear gas during a protest by farmers near the Haryana-Punjab state border in Rajpura, Punjab, India, on Feb. 21. Photographer: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

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India’s government ordered Elon Musk’s X to block certain accounts and posts on the social media platform, apparently in reaction to ongoing farmer protests in the country.

X has complied with the order, saying it was subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment. The company said its appeal challenging the orders is pending.

“We disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts,” X’s global government affairs team said in a post. The company said it will withhold the accounts and posts in India alone, in compliance with the orders.

X didn’t say how many accounts or posts were subject to the orders, which likely were linked to farmer protests that have been underway in India for more than 10 days. Accounts of several farmer leaders involved in the protests were inaccessible Thursday. The Ministry of Electronics and IT declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News.

Farmer groups said on Feb. 18 that their accounts were blocked, and that they had asked the government to allow them to operate their social media accounts.

Read More: India Farmer Protests Are Food Security Warning Sign

Similar social media restrictions were imposed during protests by farmers in 2020 and 2021, when the company then called Twitter Inc. permanently suspended more than 500 accounts. Musk took over the following year and fired more than 90% of the staff in India. Last year, he said Tesla Inc. is likely to make a significant investment in the country.

X said in its post that it had informed users affected by the recent orders, which it’s unable to publish due to legal restrictions. “We believe that making them public is essential for transparency,” the company said.

--With assistance from Akriti Sharma.

(Updates to add that the company has appealed the order in the second paragraph.)