IT ministry withholds X account of ‘Hindutva Watch’

Raqib Hameed Naik, the founder of Hindutva Watch, said he received an email to this effect from X around 7pm on Tuesday

New Delhi: The Union ministry of electronics and information technology on Tuesday withheld the X account of @HindutvaWatchIn, which maintains an archive of attacks against religious minorities of India, under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

Since the blocking orders are confidential, it is currently not known which ministry or agency recommended that the account be blocked, and if any other social media accounts or websites have been blocked in this instance of blocking. (Cool Vector - stock.adobe.com)

Raqib Hameed Naik, the founder of Hindutva Watch, said he received an email to this effect from X around 7pm on Tuesday. “We are writing to inform you that X has received a legal removal demand from that Government of India regarding your X account, @HindutvaWatchIn, that claims the following content violates India’s Information Technology Act, 2000”. It, however, did not specify the content that violated the law.

“Indian law obligates X to withhold access to this content in India; however the content remains available elsewhere. Following the Indian legal process, we are in current communication with the Indian authorities,” the email said.

As per Blocking Rules 2009, the designated officer must make “reasonable efforts” to identify the person or intermediary that hosts the problematic content and give them a chance to appear before the Section 69A blocking committee. This is not required if the blocking order is issued as an emergency order. It is not known at this stage if this was an emergency blocking order.