The Narendra Modi-led government was at the center of controversy this weekend after the main and global X (formerly Twitter) accounts of the international news agency Reuters were briefly blocked in India.
The restriction, which began on Saturday evening, left Indian users unable to access both the primary Reuters X account and the Reuters World account.
Instead, visitors were met with a message stating the content had been withheld “in response to a legal demand.”
The move came in the wake of the failed “Operation Sindoor,” after which several international media and influencer accounts—including those of Pakistani outlets—were reportedly targeted for blocking.
Alongside Reuters, the X accounts of TRT World (Turkey) and Global Times (China) were also withheld in India, fueling speculation about a coordinated crackdown on foreign media voices.
However, the Indian government quickly denied issuing any new blocking order. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) stated that there was “no requirement from the Government of India to withhold Reuters handle,” and that they were working with X to resolve the issue.
Sources suggested the block may have been linked to an earlier, now outdated, legal order from May 2025 that X mistakenly enforced over the weekend.
By Sunday evening, access to the Reuters and Reuters World X accounts was restored for Indian users. Other Reuters-affiliated accounts, such as Reuters Tech News and Reuters Asia, remained unaffected throughout the episode.