New Delhi: Turkish news broadcaster, TRT World and the account of the Chinese state-run propaganda mouthpiece, Global Times, are now available in India.
India briefly blocked both media outlets due to concerns over misinformation related to recent tensions between India and Pakistan, as observed on Wednesday. After a short suspension, access to both TRT World and Global Times’ X accounts has been restored in India.
The Indian government took action against both media outlets, withholding their X accounts in response to legal demands. Users attempting to access these accounts received a notice stating “Account withheld” due to a legal demand.
This follows after the call given in recent times for a boycott on Turkish products and services after Turkish origin military equipments such as Asisguard Songar model drones were found to have been deployed against India by Pakistan during its attack on civilian and military infrastructure of India in the wake of Operation Sindoor launched by India, targeting nine key terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), avenging the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Following Turkey’s open support for Pakistan amid recent tensions between India and its neighbour, a widespread “Ban Turkey” movement has emerged in many places across the country.
The ban on the Turkish broadcaster’s X account follows suit after the account of the Chinese state-run propaganda mouthpiece, Global Times, was also withheld in India.
Earlier on May 8, Social media platform X had received executive orders from the Indian government requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees, a statement by the Global Government Affairs said.
The orders include demands to block access to accounts belonging to international news organisations and prominent X users in India.
On May 7, India’s Embassy in China rebuked the Chinese media outlet Global Times for reporting that Pakistan’s military shot down an Indian fighter jet and advised verifying facts and sources 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 Embassy of India in Beijing, China, said on X.