Despite not agreeing with the directive, the platform declared that the posts will be withheld until the election period is over.
Ahead of a six-week general election, officials in India ordered the removal of multiple posts on social media site X that contained political discourse.
Although it disagreed with the ruling, Elon Musk’s Tesla company X, formerly known as Twitter, stated that the posts will not be visible to Indian audiences until after the election.
X said in a statement that was uploaded to the platform late on Tuesday, “We have withheld these posts for the remainder of the election period in compliance with the orders.”
“However, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts and political speech in general.”
The Indian Election Commission ruled that the posts by candidates, political parties, and elected politicians breached its code of conduct since they contained unsubstantiated information regarding the personal lives of their rivals.
Observance of judicial directives
The platform declared its adherence to the directive on the same day that X’s Brazilian office declared it would follow a court order to prevent users from disseminating misinformation in that nation.
Musk had before declared he would not follow the ruling of the Brazilian court.
This month, the billionaire and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are anticipated to meet in India to talk about significant investment plans.
An Indian court fined X $61,000 last year after the platform lost its appeal to get tweets and accounts criticizing Modi’s government removed.
During times of upheaval, Indian authorities have frequently enforced nationwide internet shutdowns.
This includes a prolonged blackout that occurred last year in the northeastern state of Manipur due to ethnic unrest.
The election is open to 968 million voters in total, with the last round of voting taking place on June 1 and the results being counted three days later.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
