Musk vs Modi: Inside the battle over India’s internet censorship

In January, an old post on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, became a concern for police in the Indian city of Satara.

- REUTERS

Written in 2023, the short message from an account with a few hundred followers described a senior ruling-party politician as “useless”.

“This post and content are likely to create serious communal tension,” inspector Jitendra Shahane wrote ina content-removal notice marked “CONFIDENTIAL” and addressed to X.

The post, which remains online, is among hundreds cited by X in a lawsuit it filed in March against India’s government, challenging a sweeping crackdown on social media content by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration.

Since 2023, India has ramped up efforts to police the internet byallowing many more officials to file takedown orders and to submit them directly to tech firms through a government website launched in October.