The official X (formerly Twitter) handle of international news agency Reuters has been withheld in India, reportedly “in response to a legal demand,” Indian media reported on Sunday.
Users attempting to access @Reuters and @ReutersWorld from within India were greeted with the message: “Account withheld. @Reuters has been withheld in IN (India) in response to a legal demand.”
While Indian media outlet The Print first reported the restriction took effect around midnight on July 6, the Indian government has denied issuing any recent legal directive related to Reuters’ accounts.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) told India Today that no such request had been made, adding that the government was working with X to resolve what it termed a “mistake” by the platform.
“There is no requirement from the Government of India to withhold the Reuters handle,” a ministry spokesperson told India Today.
Citing official sources, Indian news agency PTI reported that the original demand for blocking Reuters’ X account — along with several hundred others — dates back to Operation Sindoor, a military offensive launched in May during which India reportedly targeted sites in Pakistan. At the time, a number of social media accounts were withheld, though Reuters’ had remained accessible until now.
Government sources suggested that X appears to have acted on that earlier directive belatedly, possibly in error.
Despite the restriction on the main handles, affiliated Reuters accounts — including @ReutersTech, @ReutersChina, @ReutersAsia, and @ReutersFacts — remain accessible within India. The agency’s main website also remains unaffected.
Reuters, which employs over 2,600 journalists in 165 countries, has not issued an official statement on the development.
This is not the first time X has restricted access to accounts in India in response to legal demands. On May 8, 2025, the platform revealed it had received executive orders from the Indian government to block over 8,000 accounts.
At the time, X said the orders included demands to block accounts belonging to international news organisations and prominent individuals — without specifying the posts in violation or providing sufficient evidence.
The company, which was acquired by Elon Musk in 2022, has consistently expressed its disagreement with such demands, terming the blanket restrictions as censorship and a violation of free speech.
“Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content,” X said in a May statement. However, it noted it was unable to publish the orders due to legal constraints.
