By Maktoob
Fact- Checker and co-founder of Alt News, Mohammed Zubair, said he received an email from X stating that the platform had been issued a blocking order by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, regarding posts on his account that showed videos of Hindutva groups allegedly carrying out violence during Ram Navami processions.
Sharing the communication, Zubair wrote, “Got an email from X saying that they received a blocking order from the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology citing Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, regarding my X account.”
He questioned whether exposing what he described as “fake propaganda and false narratives” put out by BJP ministers and official handles was no longer permitted.
According to the email, X said it had received a blocking order from the Ministry citing Section 69A and was legally required to withhold access to the specified content in India, while the posts would remain accessible outside the country.
The platform also stated that it could not provide additional details due to legal restrictions and advised that the order could be challenged by contacting [email protected] or by seeking relief through the courts.
The development comes amid a rise in government-directed content takedowns.
According to a report by The Hindu, within a year of being empowered to directly issue such notices, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an average of about 290 takedown notices per day.
As per the MHA’s 2024–25 annual report, till March 31, 2025, “1,11,185 suspicious online content has been blocked under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act.”
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
