The Indian government ordered Elon Musk-led X to take action against certain users and messages. X filed an appeal to make the orders public for openness but is legally constrained.
The central government ordered microblogging site X to remove accounts and postings. Elon Musk’s X is opposing these directives, saying they violate free speech.
“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 Global Government Affairs team said about X.
“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” , said.
Legal action, openness
X has filed a writ appeal against the government’s instructions and notified affected users per policy. The platform said they wish to publish executive directives for transparency but are legally prohibited.
Unfortunately, legal limits prevent us from publishing executive orders, but we feel transparency requires it. Poor transparency can lead to arbitrary decision-making and lack of responsibility “said the team.
X has clashed with the government before too. They criticized government standards in 2021, prompting the government to encourage compliance rather than dictate terms.
Conclusion
The Indian government ordered microblogging service X to remove certain accounts and messages. Elon Musk’s X opposed these directives, saying they violate free speech. X filed a writ appeal to make the executive orders public for openness but was legally barred. X has clashed with the administration before in 2021.
