‘X’ disagrees with govt action to suspend accounts linked to farmers protest

NEW DELHI: Social media platform X expressed dissatisfaction with the Centre’s order to suspend accounts related to the farmers' protests. X informed that the BJP government has ordered the suspension of several accounts related to the strike. X informed about the central government's order through the 'Global Government Affairs' account that some accounts have been blocked as per instructions and strongly opposes this action. As part of compliance with the order, these posts and accounts will be banned only in India, the post said.

The Indian government has issued executive orders requiring X to act on specific accounts and posts, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment.

In compliance with the orders, we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however,…

— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) February 21, 2024

‘The central government has directed to take action against certain accounts and posts through the order. If this is not done, the central government has threatened punishment including imprisonment and fine. A writ petition was filed against the actions of the central government but a decision has not been taken. There are restrictions on publicizing the order for legal reasons but the information is shared because the public needs to know these things. We believe it is essential to make them public to convince people of the transparency of the matter. Information regarding this has also been forwarded to the people who faced the action,’ informed X. However, the Centre is yet to respond to the allegations in X post that came yesterday early morning.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has directed the social media platforms to block 177 accounts related to farmers' struggle. Before this, X had opposed the central government's stance even when it was Twitter. This was during the earlier farmers strike in Delhi. Twitter had informer the Karnataka High Court that it had asked the central government to block several accounts related to the strike. The company also pointed out that Section 69A of the IT Act does not prescribe the blocking of accounts. The company's stand was that accounts cannot be completely removed just because of political criticism and the Supreme Court has clarified that the scope of freedom of expression includes the right to criticize the government. Twitter's former chief Jack Dorsey also sparked controversy after allegations that the government pressured Twitter to ban journalists' accounts and remove content.