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.
India has categorically rejected Pakistan’s malicious misinformation campaign, which falsely claimed the destruction of critical Indian
During his visit to the Adampur Airbase, PM Modi said, “Despite Pakistan’s many efforts, our airbases, or our other defence infrastructure, have not been harmed. And the credit for this goes to all of you, and I am proud of all of you. Every soldier deployed on the border, every person associated with this operation deserves credit for this.”
India has also taken action against other accounts spreading misinformation, including 16 Pakistani YouTube channels and accounts belonging to Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The action followed the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Following heightened tensions between India and Pakistan over the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the accounts of Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have been suspended in India.–(ANI)
