MP moots roundtable to ease Saravanan-Izzah row over Indian community
PKR lawmaker P Prabakaran said finger-pointing was not constructive, and that a more mature approach was required...
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The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
X says Indian government ordered it to block Reuters News accounts in India
FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Elon Musk and the X logo are seen in this illustration taken January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's government last week directly ordered X to block more than 2,000 accounts, including two belonging to Reuters News, the social media platform said on Tuesday in a sharp public attack on "ongoing press censorship" in India. Two Reuters News accounts - @Reuters and @ReutersWorld - were suspended for India users late on Saturday, and displayed a message saying they had been "withheld in IN (India) in response to a legal demand". The Reuters accounts were restored on Sunday night but the status of the others was unclear. X's statement contradicts comments by a spokesperson for India's Press Information Bureau at the weekend who said no government agency had required the withholding of Reuters handles. "On July 3, 2025, the Indian government ordered X to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like @Reuters and @ReutersWorld, under Section 69A of the IT Act. Non-compliance risked criminal liability," X said in its post. "We are deeply concerned about ongoing press censorship in India due to these blocking orders. X is exploring all legal options available," it added. Reuters could not determine what specific content the blocking demand referred to and why its removal was sought. Section 69A of India's IT law allows the government to block public access to content "in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state". Orders issued under the section are confidential in nature. In a statement, India's IT ministry said the government had "not issued any fresh blocking order" on July 3. It did not say if an order was issued before that date. The government did not intend to block any prominent international news channel, including Reuters, and had written to X over the weekend to unblock the news agency's accounts, the ministry said. "X has unnecessarily exploited technicalities involved around the process and didn't unblock the URLs," it added. The social media platform in its statement said the Indian government had asked it to restore access to @Reuters and @ReutersWorld after a "public outcry." A Reuters spokesperson at the weekend said the news agency was working with X to get its accounts reinstated in India as soon as possible. On Tuesday, she said the agency had no further comment. The main Reuters account has more than 25 million followers globally, while Reuters World has 718,000. X has long been at odds with India's government over content-removal requests. In March, the company sued the federal government over a new government website the company says expands takedown powers to "countless" government officials. The case is continuing. India has said X wrongly labelled an official website a "censorship portal", as the website only allows tech companies to be notified about harmful online content. (Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Munsif Vengattil and Aftab Ahmed; Editing by Jon Boyle)
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
X blasts India ‘censorship' order on thousands of accounts
NEW DELHI: Social media platform X said Tuesday it was 'deeply concerned' after the Indian government ordered it last week to block 2,355 accounts, including two Reuters news agency accounts. Many of the blocked accounts were restored hours later, with New Delhi specifically denying its role in the takedown. India, the world's biggest democracy, regularly ranks among the top five countries for the number of requests made by a government to remove social media content. 'On July 3, 2025, the Indian government ordered X to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like @Reuters and @ReutersWorld,' X's Global Government Affairs team said in a statement, shared on its platform. It said that India's Ministry of Electronics 'demanded immediate action -- within one hour -- without providing justification, and required the accounts to remain blocked' until further notice. The accounts were taken offline late on Saturday, but had resumed operations by Sunday. 'Non-compliance risked criminal liability,' said X, the platform owned by Tesla boss Elon Musk and formerly known as Twitter. 'After public outcry, the government requested X to unblock @Reuters and @ReutersWorld,' it added. 'We are deeply concerned about ongoing press censorship in India due to these blocking orders.' Rights groups say freedom of expression and free press is under threat in India since Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. New Delhi has regularly imposed blanket internet shutdowns during periods of unrest. India in April launched a sweeping crackdown on social media, banning more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading 'provocative' content following an attack in Kashmir. Many of those of have been restored. New Delhi has also imposed intermittent internet outages in the northeastern state of Manipur since 2023 in the wake of ethnic violence. New Delhi has justified internet and social media bans as ways to curb disinformation in a country where hundreds of millions have access to some of the cheapest mobile internet rates in the world. X said its was 'exploring all legal options available' but added that it 'restricted by Indian law in its ability to bring legal challenges', it said. 'We urge affected users to pursue legal remedies through the courts,' it added. – AFP
New Straits Times
9 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Freedom of speech must not be misused for slander
KUALA LUMPUR: Every PKR member has the right to express their views, but this must be exercised with discipline and responsibility, without resorting to slander or defamatory remarks, said its vice president, Datuk Seri R. Ramanan. He said freedom of speech is a core strength of both the party and the government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but it must be practised ethically. "This is the strength and greatness of PKR and the current government, where everyone has the right to speak. But I want to remind everyone, do not spread slander. In Islam, slander is considered a sin worse than murder. "We have freedom of speech, but when it is misused to slander others, that freedom is lost. There is nothing wrong with voicing opinions, as long as they are based on facts and expressed with discipline," he said. He was speaking after officiating the launch of Changemakers IICS and a social entrepreneurship seminar organised by the Malaysian Entrepreneurship Institute here today. Present were the ministry's deputy secretary-general (policy and monitoring) Noor Afifah Abdul Razak, Insken's chief executive officer (CEO) Viviantie Sarjuni and Subang INTI International College CEO Dr Jane Lim. Ramanan, who is also Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister said PKR remains stable under the leadership of Anwar, who will continue to serve as the party's president and prime minister. "There will naturally be one or two individuals who voice their views. In politics, that is normal. So we must be open to everyone's perspectives," he added. Yesterday, nine PKR members of parliament called for a royal commission of inquiry to investigate what they claimed were alleged irregularities in the appointment of senior judges, including the Chief Justice. They also will formally request that proceedings and an inquiry be conducted by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reform, including top government officials to testify. Leading the group is Pandan MP and former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli, who said they would write officially to the Chairman of the Committee, William Leong and all committee members.
