Ishika Kumar, Pune
The social media platform ‘X’, formerly called Twitter, said that the Indian government has ordered action against specific posts and accounts related to the ongoing farmers’ protest in the country. On February 22, 2024, they warned that failing to do so would attract significant fines and imprisonment for officials. The social media platform responded to the Indian Government through its handle for the Global Government Affairs page of X by saying that they would withhold these accounts and posts in India, complying with the orders. However, they disagree with these actions and believe freedom of speech and expression should extend to those posts no matter what.
Although legal restrictions would pose hurdles in the path of X, the Indian government’s orders were made public despite the site’s beliefs and inability to publish the direct executive orders. Elon Musk mentioned in an interview with the BBC that he would not like X’s employees sent to jail due to non-compliance with blocking orders issued by the Indian government and that their Writ Appeal challenging the same remains pending. Which appeal is being referred to is unclear. As the farmer protest began in the second week of February, numerous accounts on X that operated as the official pages of farmer unions and organisations have been withheld in India that were covering the agitation before the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest, and the post is regarding affiliated accounts.
Blocking orders, which came on February 14, affected multiple accounts of Kisan Ekta Morcha. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, also called ‘Meity’, has finalized new emergency blocking orders against 177 odd social media accounts and links, all related to the farmers’ protests, in order to maintain “public order.” According to the Hindustan Times. In 2023, the Indian government established certain norms that required intermediaries to not publish, share, or host fake and misleading information concerning any business of the central government as an obligation. This was inclusive of the government’s fact-checking unit identifying what is and is not fake, false, or misleading information. The Internet has been shut down in some parts of Punjab and Haryana in areas where farmers are camping after being blocked by the Haryana Police from entering. This demand for blocking and withholding accounts amidst the protests is an attempt to pacify the dissent and curtail the freedom of speech and expression.