The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had blocked over 1,400 URLs on digital media during Operation Sindoor, union minister for railways, I&B, and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.

This comes weeks after social media platform X said it had blocked access to Reuters and over 2,300 other accounts on orders from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology – a claim later denied by the government. 

In a written response to a starred question by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya in Lok Sabha on the steps taken by the government to combat fake news, accounts, and information during Operation Sindoor, Vaishnaw said, “It was observed that certain social media handles, many operating from outside India, were actively propagating false and potentially harmful information. Under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000, government issued necessary orders to block websites, social media handles and posts in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state, and public order.”

“Ministry also issued directions for blocking of over 1,400 URLs on digital media during Operation Sindoor. The content of these URLs included false, misleading, anti-India news content, communally sensitive content primarily from Pakistan-based social media accounts, and inciteful content against Indian Armed Forces.”

Vaishnaw said that the government had set up a 24x7 centralised control room, which was monitored by the defence forces, government media units, and the Press Information Bureau for real-time information sharing.

The minister said that the PIB’s fact check unit actively tracked and debunked misinformation on social media, sharing verified information and taking action against fake posts.

In May, The Wire was also among those blocked. After the news portal wrote to the information technology ministry, it received a response from the information and broadcasting ministry suggesting it was blocked for mentioning a CNN report on Rafale jets, the news outlet said. The block was ostensibly lifted after The Wire pulled down the article.    

Newslaundry had earlier reported on X admitting to taking down around 250 accounts of journalists and activists posting about the 2021 farmers’ protest. The Modi government had issued similar directives in April 2021 to remove tweets that were critical of the government’s Covid response. 

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