X Blocks Reuters Accounts in India

Reuters News Access Interrupted on X in India

Access to the primary Reuters news feed, along with the Reuters World account, was temporarily unavailable to users on X (formerly Twitter) within India on Saturday evening.

Initial Disruption and Restoration

Service was successfully reinstated by Sunday. Indian users attempting to view the @Reuters account, which boasts 25 million followers, encountered a message indicating the account had been withheld due to a legal request originating from within India.

Government Response

An official spokesperson for the Indian government communicated to TechCrunch that no directive had been issued by the government to restrict access to the Reuters handle.

The spokesperson further stated that ongoing collaboration with X is in progress to address and resolve the issue.

Reuters' Statement and Previous Notification

A representative from Reuters confirmed the agency is actively working with X to rectify the situation.

Reuters also revealed that its social media team had previously received a notification from X in May.

This notification indicated content was being withheld at the request of the Indian government, although the specific requesting agency and targeted content were not detailed.

X's Content Moderation Disputes

The social media platform, now integrated with xAI, has previously voiced criticism regarding demands from the Indian government to block specific accounts and posts.

In March, X initiated legal action against the government, alleging that a new web platform facilitates “unrestricted censorship” in India.

The lawsuit claims the platform unlawfully empowers numerous public officials to remove content or suspend accounts.

The government countered that the platform merely serves as a mechanism for notifying companies about potentially harmful online material.

Past Conflicts with Brazil

Last year, X was involved in a significant dispute with Brazil’s Supreme Court.

This resulted in a temporary shutdown of operations within the country, followed by a ban lasting over a month.

Lack of Immediate Response

X did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment from TechCrunch.

Reuters also did not immediately respond to additional inquiries from TechCrunch concerning its communications with both the Indian government and X.

This article has been updated to reflect the restoration of Reuters accounts. Additional reporting was contributed by Jagmeet Singh.