The official X (formerly Twitter) account of global news agency Reuters was restored in India on Sunday evening, nearly a day after it was withheld from Indian users following a legal demand. The account, which has over 25 million followers, had been inaccessible in the country since Saturday night.
In a brief email to Reuters’ social media team, X stated: “At this time, we are no longer withholding access in INDIA to your account.” The platform did not provide details regarding the reason for the initial suspension or its subsequent reversal.
Earlier on Sunday, India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) clarified that no government agency had issued any directive to block the Reuters account. Government officials were reportedly coordinating with X to investigate and resolve the matter.
A Reuters spokesperson confirmed that the agency had been in communication with X throughout the incident. “Reuters was working with X to resolve this matter and get the Reuters account reinstated in India as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.
The @ReutersWorld handle, another account operated by the news agency and also blocked during the incident, was restored later the same night.
On Saturday, Indian users trying to access the @Reuters handle were met with a message stating that the account “has been withheld in IN (India) in response to a legal demand.” The message echoed language typically used when content is restricted under India’s Information Technology Act, 2000, which allows for content takedowns deemed to threaten public order, national security, or violate local laws.
An earlier communication from X, dated May 16, had alerted Reuters to a legal request under the IT Act. However, the news agency has not confirmed whether that prior notification was linked to this weekend’s suspension. The May 16 email did not specify which content was under scrutiny or which government entity had submitted the request.
The episode is the latest in a series of tensions between X and the Indian government, primarily over content moderation regulations. In March, X filed a legal challenge against a government directive that, according to the company, granted broad powers to officials for ordering content removal. The Indian government, however, maintained that the directive was simply meant to notify social media companies of potentially unlawful content.
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