
The main Reuters and Reuters World accounts on X have been restored to users in India after being inaccessible overnight. The restriction started late Saturday and displayed a notice indicating that the accounts were “withheld in India in response to a legal demand.” This restriction was confusing, especially since both Reuters and the Indian government denied initiating or requesting such action.
Indian users attempting to access the @Reuters account on Saturday encountered a message citing a legal request. However, the Indian government quickly clarified that it had made no such request. A spokesperson for the Press Information Bureau stated that no Indian government agency had directed the platform to block the Reuters handle and confirmed efforts were underway to resolve the situation with X.
Government officials later added that the issue likely stemmed from a previously issued order during "Operation Sindoor" in May. While X had not enforced that order at the time, it appears to have taken action over the weekend, possibly in error. Officials reportedly contacted X, requesting an explanation and immediate restoration of the accounts.
Reuters confirmed that its social media team had received a notification from X in mid-May, indicating that the platform had withheld content in India in response to a legal request. However, that notice failed to mention which government entity made the request or what content triggered it.
The message cited the Information Technology Act, of 2000, in India, which gave government authorities the right to issue orders to combat online information that threatened national security or public order.
This incident adds to ongoing tensions between the Indian government and X regarding content takedown requests. In March, X sued the government over a newly launched platform it described as a “censorship portal.” The government rejected this label, stating the site only serves as a notification system for harmful online content.
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While the primary Reuters and Reuters World accounts were withheld, other affiliated handles, such as Reuters Tech News, Reuters Asia, and Reuters Fact Check, remained accessible throughout the episode. The restriction appeared limited to the agency’s main global accounts, which have over 25 million followers combined.
A Reuters spokesperson reiterated that the agency had not received a clear explanation from X or any official Indian body regarding the move. Reuters stated it was working with the platform to determine the cause and ensure account access remained uninterrupted.
Under X’s content policy, withheld messages appear when content or accounts are restricted in a specific region in response to a legal demand. However, the platform did not publicly share the origin of this particular request.