X Corp., formerly known as Twitter, has effectively waved the white flag as far as censorship requests from India are concerned. In its first detailed statement on the Union government’s frequent blocking requests to the platform, X’s Global Government Affairs team posted a defence of its users’ freedom of expression — without actually backing it with any new action to protect it. Against the backdrop of several blocking orders targeting accounts posting about the farmers’ protests at the Delhi border, this is the first time X has spoken in some detail about blocking orders from India.
“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,” the unsigned post on early Thursday morning said. “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.”
The company will not do anything new to defend these individuals’ freedom of expression, it indicated, referring to a “pending appeal” in the Karnataka High Court on blocking orders where the next hearing is on March 20, a month after the last one, which happened on Tuesday. In that hearing, X sought more time to respond to a recent government affidavit.
