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'Complied With Orders But Disagree With These Actions': Here's What Elon Musk's X Said On Withholding Accounts Linked To Farmers Protest
Nayan Dwivedi
Feb 22, 2024, 11:36 AM | Updated 11:36 AM IST
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Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) has agreed to comply with emergency blocking orders from India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The decision follows the ministry's recent move to issue orders targeting social media accounts and posts related to the farmers' protests.
However, Despite its compliance, X expressed concerns about transparency due to legal restrictions preventing the disclosure of executive orders.
The global government affairs team of X 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."
It further said that, "In compliance with the orders, we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts."
"Due to legal restrictions, we are unable to publish the executive orders, but we believe that making them public is essential for transparency. This lack of disclosure can lead to a lack of accountability and arbitrary decision-making," the post added.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had earlier finalized orders to suspend 177 accounts associated with the 'Delhi Chalo' march by farmers near the national capital.
These orders were issued on 14 February, following which social media companies, including X, were instructed to block the accounts temporarily to maintain public order.
These emergency orders were issued by MeitY on the behest of the Ministry of Home Affairs, a day after the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march began.
Nayan Dwivedi is Staff Writer at Swarajya.
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