India cracks down on independent news websites and Twitter profiles amid ‘information war'
The website of The Wire, a news organisation known for its investigative journalism and critical coverage of the government, became inaccessible across much of the country on Friday.
While officials have not issued any public order or statement, internet service providers told The Wire that the site had been blocked following directions from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) under the Information Technology Act, 2000, it said in a statement.
The publication said it would challenge the action in court and the move amounted to 'a clear violation of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press'.
In another instance, the X handle of Maktoob Media, another Indian news website, was also withheld.
In a statement, X (formerly Twitter) said it has received executive orders from the Indian government to block access to over 8,000 accounts within India. The company said the orders came with threats of 'significant fines and imprisonment of the company's local employees' for non-compliance.
'In most cases, the Indian government has not specified which posts from an account have violated India's local laws,' the company said. 'For a significant number of accounts, we did not receive any evidence or justification to block the accounts.'
India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a separate advisory instructing online intermediaries, including social media platforms and streaming services, to take down all content 'having its origins in Pakistan'.
'In the interest of national security, all OTT platforms, media streaming platforms and intermediaries operating in India are advised to discontinue the web-series, films, songs, podcasts and other streaming media content, whether made available on a subscription based model or otherwise, having its origins in Pakistan with immediate effect,' read the advisory dated 8 May.
The advisory did not define what qualified as such content or specify any legal framework under which it was issued.
The Indian Ministry of Defence also on Friday asked 'all media channels, digital platforms and individuals' to refrain from 'live coverage or real-time reporting of defence operations and movement of security forces'.
'Disclosure of such sensitive or source-based information may jeopardise operational effectiveness and endanger lives. Past incidents like the Kargil War, 26/11 attacks, and the Kandahar hijacking underscore the risks of premature reporting. As per clause 6(1)(p) of the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021, only periodic briefings by designated officials are permitted during anti-terror operations. In 1999, India and Pakistan fought a brief but intense conflict in the mountains above Kargil on the Line of Control, the cease-fire line dividing the former kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir.
'All stakeholders are urged to exercise vigilance, sensitivity, and responsibility in coverage, upholding the highest standards in the service of the nation,' the ministry said.
The 26/11 attacks refer to the 2008 militant strikes in India's financial capital Mumbai in which over 160 people were killed. In the 1999 Kandahar hijacking of Indian Airlines flight 814 from Kathmandu, India blames Pakistan and Pakistan-based militant groups. The hijacking was resolved after New Delhi freed three Islamist militants, including Masood Azhar, the head of one such group.
Lawyer and Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) director Apar Gupta said the government's move to block The Wire was not accompanied by a transparent legal order and appears consistent with a broader pattern of digital censorship.
'The restriction on access to The Wire's website does not emerge from any clear legal order, as it is not being disclosed and there is no public statement which exists on record,' Mr Gupta told The Independent. 'That matches a pattern of web censorship through the IT Rules 2021, where directions for blocking content are not transparently disclosed – either to the public or even to the impacted parties.'
He added that a similar case involving the takedown of 4PM News's YouTube channel had reached the Delhi High Court, which has asked the government to respond.
IFF also raised concerns about the 8 May advisory, which it said could lead to over-compliance by platforms and remove a wide range of material not connected to misinformation or threats to national security.
'The advisory rests on no clear statutory footing and imposes an indiscriminate, origin-based embargo,' the foundation said in a separate written statement. 'We urge the government to support Indian journalists and fact-checkers and issue content takedowns as a last resort.'
The crackdown comes amid an information vacuum fuelled by rising military tensions between India and Pakistan. Television news channels have faced criticism for airing misleading or false footage, including a widely broadcast video claimed to be from India's recent missile strike across the border, which fact-checkers later identified as footage from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in 2023.
Social media platforms have seen a surge in unverified claims, including videos of old explosions, AI-generated imagery and repurposed gaming footage shared as evidence of Pakistani retaliation. The government has not made public which specific content prompted the 8 May advisory, or whether it is tied to any verified disinformation campaigns.
With access to some news websites restricted, international platforms facing growing regulatory pressure, and misinformation circulating unchecked on mainstream television and encrypted apps, some observers have raised concerns about the shrinking availability of reliable information for Indian readers during a time of national crisis.
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