The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India (Meity) has rejected the allegations of press sensorship made by the social media platform X (East Twitter). The official spokesperson of the ministry clarified that no new blocking order was issued by the Government of India on 3 July 2025 nor had any plans to block Reuters or any other international news institution.
According to the spokesperson, as soon as the accounts of international news outlets like Reuters and Reuters World on the X platform were temporarily blocked, the Government of India immediately contacted the X and asked them to start the process of unblocking them. He also informed that the government made efforts to resolve the issue with X continuously from the night of 5 July.
The ministry also alleged that X, by making excuses for technical processes, deliberately drew the unlocked process, it took about 21 hours to restore the URL. The spokesperson said that after the government was followed by the government continuously every hour, after 9 pm on July 6, the X unblocked all the concerned URLs, including the Reuters.
On the contrary, X issued a statement from its Global Government Affairs account, claiming that the Government of India ordered to block 2,355 accounts under Section 69A of the IT Act, including accounts of reputed media institutions like Reuters. According to the X, the government had demanded immediate action within an hour without justification and warned that a criminal case could be formed on disregard of the order.
The X also said that after public opposition to the blocking order, the Government of India requested them to unlock Reuters and Reuters World. However, Meity rejected the claim saying that the government’s stand was clear from the beginning and unnecessary blocking was not supported.
X expressed concern about the alleged press sensorship in India and said that they are considering all legal options. He also stated that due to the laws of India, he could not directly challenge executive orders, but he appealed to the affected users to seek judicial measures through the courts.
