X has been ordered by the Indian government to block access to over 8,000 accounts, including those of international news organizations and significant users. Despite starting the process to comply, X has expressed disagreement with the demands, asserting that such blanket account blocking infringes on free speech rights and lacks necessary specificity in identifying offending posts. The situation raises significant issues about censorship and the balance between compliance with local laws and the protection of fundamental rights.
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 orders include demands to block access in India to accounts belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users. In most cases, the Indian government has not specified which posts from an account have violated India's local laws.
To comply with the orders, we will withhold the specified accounts in India alone. We have begun that process. However, we disagree with the Indian government's demands. 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.
Collection
[
|
...
]