By: The FT
February 10, 2021
Twitter has started blocking accounts in India following repeated official demands, as it seeks to defuse days of mounting tension with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
The US social media company said it had taken action on more than 500 accounts that had been flagged by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Some have been blocked in India but will remain available outside the country, while others have been permanently suspended.
But Twitter said it had not blocked the accounts of media outlets, journalists, activists or politicians, saying this would not be “consistent with Indian law [or] in keeping with our principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression”.