Govt bans X accounts of Chinese, Turkish media outlets

The government has blocked social media handles of Chinese state-run media outlets— Xinhua news agency and Global Times— besides those of Turkey’s public broadcaster TRT World, accusing them of disseminating disinformation regarding ‘Operation Sindhoor’.

The X accounts of these outlets shows the message “Account Witheld”, following a legal request. This comes a week after the Indian embassy in China had reprimanded Global Times for reporting that Pakistan’s military shot down an Indian fighter jet, advising it to verify facts before publishing such reports. “Dear @globaltimesnews, we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of disinformation,” the Indian embassy in Beijing, China, said on X.

The post said several pro-Pakistan handles were spreading baseless claims on Operation Sindoor, attempting to mislead the public. It said when media outlets share such information without verifying sources, it reflects a serious lapse in responsibility and journalistic ethics.

The X global government affairs team said it has received executive orders from India requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India. Earlier, government had banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, including those of some news outlets.

The ban on the X accounts comes on a day when the government condemned China’s attempts to assert territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, by naming places in the state. The External Affairs Ministry said in a statement that creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.

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