X blocks India election posts at request of authorities
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India's election commission claims the posts by elected politicians, political parties, and candidates made unverified claims about the private lives of their opponents.
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The opening page of X is displayed on a computer and phone in Sydney, on Monday, October 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, announced Tuesday it has blocked several posts in India containing political speech after authorities ordered their takedown ahead of a six-week general election that starts Friday.
X, owned by Tesla chief Elon Musk, mentioned that the posts would be withheld from Indian audiences until the election was over despite its disagreement with the order.
"In compliance with the orders, we have withheld these posts for the remainder of the election period," X said in a statement.
"However, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts and political speech in general."
India's election commission claimed the posts by elected politicians, political parties, and candidates made unverified claims about the private lives of their opponents in violation of the body's code of conduct.
India regularly ranks among the top five countries globally for the number of requests made by a government to remove social media content.
Last year, an Indian court hit X with a $61,000 fine after the platform unsuccessfully challenged orders to remove tweets and accounts critical of Modi's government.
Indian authorities have regularly imposed blanket internet shutdowns during periods of unrest. That includes a months-long outage in the northeastern state of Manipur last year in the wake of ethnic violence.
The Indian government claims internet shutdowns curb disinformation from spreading on social media or mobile messaging applications.
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