“The Wire”, a popular news website, has been taken down and blocked by the Indian Government. Under the Information and Technology Act, 2000, the Central Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has ordered to block the site.
Users, who attempt to visit the website, are either greeted with a “This site can’t provide a secure connection” error page, or a blocking order stating “This website has been blocked as per the order of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the IT Act, 2000.”
The Wire, through its social media platforms, said that the blockage is a “clear violation of the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press”.
“We protest this blatant censorship at a critical time for India when sane, truthful, fair and rational voices and sources of news and information are among the biggest assets that India has. We are taking all necessary steps to challenge this arbitrary and inexplicable move…We will not be deterred from providing truthful and accurate news to all our readers”, Wire said.
The Indian government, in light with the recent war-like situation with Pakistan, has not only began censoring news portals, but also social media accounts. X, formerly known as Twitter, stated in an official statement that the Indian Government requested them to block nearly 8,000 X accounts.
“X has 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. The orders include demands to block access in India to accounts belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users”, X’s Global Government Affairs portal said.
They further said that although they have begun the process of withholding the accounts, they do not agree with Indian government’s orders. “To comply with the orders, we will withhold the specified accounts in India alone. We have begun that process. However, we disagree with the Indian government’s demands. Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech”, X said.
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