Indian users noticed that the official X account of Reuters had been blocked on Sunday, July 6. When they tried to access it, a notice appeared stating the account was withheld “in response to a legal demand.”

However, the Indian government denied issuing any fresh request for this action.

Government Denies Involvement

According to sources in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), no new order was given to block Reuters. Instead, they suspect a technical mistake by X (formerly Twitter).

One official clarified, “The government did not ask X to block Reuters. We’ve asked X why they did it.”

Moreover, the official pointed out that other Reuters handles are still visible in India, which shows that the government has no issue with the agency’s presence in the country.

More Accounts Affected

In addition to Reuters’ main account, the Reuters World handle also became inaccessible in India.

Despite this, many other handles — such as Reuters Tech News, Reuters Asia, Reuters China, and Reuters Fact Check — remain available to users in India.

Old Order Possibly Enforced by Mistake

Interestingly, officials now believe this incident links back to an older order from May 7, during Operation Sindoor.

At that time, the Indian government had requested X to block several accounts, including Reuters. But X did not act on it immediately.

Now, it appears that X mistakenly enforced that old directive. One official said, “X seems to have enforced that order now, which is a mistake on their part. The government has asked X to resolve the issue quickly.”

Context: Previous Backlash Over Account Blocks

Not long ago, the Indian government faced strong backlash for briefly unblocking several Pakistani-linked accounts during a four-day standoff. Due to public pressure, the government reinstated the bans within 24 hours.

Therefore, experts believe the government might have resent the original May list, possibly leading to Reuters’ account being included in the takedown by mistake.