In response to the farmers’ protest, the government has reportedly temporarily suspended approximately 177 social media accounts and web links. According to a report by news agency PTI, quoting sources, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) issued these orders on February 14 and 19. The accounts and web links have been blocked following a request from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under Section 69A of the IT Act.
According to the report, these orders were made to maintain law and order by temporarily suspending certain social media accounts and web links at the behest of the Ministry of Home Affairs.The Section 69A of the IT Act gives power to the central government to issue directions for blocking for public access of any information through any computer resource. This is the same act under which the government blocked Chinese websites in June 2020.
Blocked accounts across social media platforms
The suspension is said to affect accounts and links on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and several other social media platforms.
Accounts to be reinstated later
The source insisted that the ban on these accounts is temporary and that these accounts could be reinstated once the farmers’ protest ends.