The Indian government on Tuesday refuted claims by Elon Musk-run X (formerly Twitter) that it had issued a fresh order to block 2,355 accounts, including international news outlet Reuters, on July 3, 2025.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) clarified that no such blocking request was made and emphasized that the government had worked actively with X to restore access to Reuters and other URLs, which were unblocked by July 6.
A MeitY spokesperson stated:
&ldquo;The Government has not issued any fresh blocking order on July 3, 2025, and has no intention to block any prominent international news channels, including Reuters. When Reuters and ReutersWorld were blocked, the government immediately contacted X to get them unblocked.&rdquo;
The confusion appears to stem from a previous order dated May 7 during Operation Sindoor, which was not enforced at the time. X seems to have mistakenly implemented the old order, prompting the Indian government to step in and urge a reversal.
X, however, claimed via its Global Government Affairs handle that it received an urgent directive under Section 69A of the IT Act to block thousands of accounts within one hour, under threat of criminal liability.
But government officials maintain that no fresh action was initiated in July and reiterated that Reuters' suspension was not government-directed.
[Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by the Benefit News editorial team and is published directly from the IANS news feed.]

Govt Denies Blocking Reuters on X, Cites No Fresh Order

Centre Denies Blocking Reuters on X, Says No New Order Issued to Withhold Accounts on July 3

Govt Denies Blocking Reuters on X, Cites No Fresh Order

Centre Denies Blocking Reuters on X, Says No New Order Issued to Withhold Accounts on July 3

July 8, 2025 | 19:47 IST