One casualty in the Indo-Pakistan fighting: the truth

IN THE long and bloody history of India-Pakistan relations, ceasefires have often come with silence - a manufactured quiet that drowns out dissent, suppresses journalism, and blurs the line between narrative and truth.

- RANA AYYUB

The most recent truce between the two nuclear neighbours, following the April 26 terrorist attack on tourists in Kashmir and the retaliatory strikes that followed, is no exception. While fighter jets retreated and shelling quieted along the line of control, a fierce battle raged online and in the media not for peace, but for control of the story.

On May 8, as shelling continued between India and Pakistan, with villages bombarded, sirens blazing, civilians injured and killed, the social media platform X announced that the Indian government had demanded it take down more than 8 000 accounts, "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 organisations and prominent X users".

"In most cases, the Indian government has not specified which posts from an account have violated India's local laws," the statement said.

"For a number of accounts, we did not receive any evidence or justification to block the accounts.... 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."

The censorship extended beyond X. A statement released by the Wire, an independent Indian news website, said its website had been blocked on government orders for running a story on an Indian fighter jet allegedly downed by Pakistan, which was based on a CNN video report. Pakistan claimed it had shot down five Indian planes, and The Washington Post confirmed debris consistent with two.