Reuters News Account Restored on X in India After Temporary Suspension

Confusion Surrounds Brief Blocking of Reuters and Reuters World Amid Unclear Legal Demand Under India’s IT Act

In a development that caused considerable concern in media circles, the Reuters News account on X (formerly Twitter) was restored in India on Sunday, a day after it had been suspended following a vague legal demand. The social media platform notified the Reuters team via email stating, “At this time, we are no longer withholding access in INDIA to your account,” but did not offer further details regarding the original reason for the suspension or the restoration.

The incident began late Saturday night when Indian users attempting to access the official @Reuters handle on X were shown a message stating that the account had been “withheld in IN (India) in response to a legal demand.” No additional information was provided to the public or the news organization at that time. The Reuters World handle, another account managed by the agency, was also inaccessible but was reinstated late on Sunday night.

The sudden suspension drew widespread attention, particularly given the global reputation of Reuters, which commands a following of more than 25 million users on X. Adding to the confusion, a spokesperson from the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) clarified to Reuters earlier in the day that no government agency had requested the blocking of the account. The spokesperson assured that officials were engaging with X to resolve the issue.

A Reuters representative confirmed they had been in contact with the platform and were actively working toward restoring the accounts. The lack of clear information about the nature of the legal demand raised questions about the transparency of the takedown process.

The only earlier reference to a possible issue dates back to an email from X to the Reuters social media team on May 16. That message stated that Reuters’ content had been withheld in India in compliance with the country’s Information Technology Act, 2000. The email also noted that such actions are generally taken after receiving legal requests from authorized entities such as law enforcement or government agencies. However, it was unclear whether that May correspondence was directly related to Saturday’s suspension, as no details were shared about the specific content or the entity that filed the request.

The Indian IT Act empowers designated officials to instruct social media platforms to remove or block content that allegedly violates national laws, citing reasons such as public order or national security. However, the lack of transparency in such actions has raised concerns about potential overreach.

Notably, X has been in ongoing conflict with the Indian government regarding takedown requests. In March, the platform filed a legal case challenging a new government website it claimed significantly broadened the state’s content-removal powers. The Indian government countered that the site merely served as a notification portal and accused X of mischaracterizing it as a “censorship portal.”

As of now, both Reuters News and Reuters World are fully accessible in India once again, but the episode has reignited the debate on digital censorship, regulatory clarity, and freedom of press in the digital age.