Elon Musk's X bans over 212,000 accounts in India for policy violations

In its compliance report, Twitter said most accounts were banned due to the promotion of child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity

Elon Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) banned over 212,000 accounts in India between February 26 and March 25 this year, The Times of India reported, citing the company's monthly compliance report. 

The report revealed that a total of 212,627 accounts in India were banned between February 26 and March 25 this year. The majority of account bans were due to the promotion of child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity, as stated in the company's monthly report in accordance with the IT Rules, 2021, several media outlets reported.

Additionally, the platform removed 1,235 accounts for promoting terrorism within the country during this period.

In total, 213,862 accounts were banned on the social media platform. X reported receiving 5,158 user complaints from India during the same timeframe through its grievance redressal mechanisms. Moreover, X addressed 86 grievances related to appealing account suspensions.

The majority of complaints from India were regarding ban evasion (3,074), followed by sensitive adult content (953), hateful conduct (412), and abuse/harassment (359). X mentioned implementing numerous measures to mitigate child sexual exploitation and terrorism activity on the platform.

Between January 26 and February 25 this year, X had banned 506,173 accounts in India and removed 1,982 accounts for promoting terrorism. The company stated that after reviewing the specifics of the situation, they overturned the suspension of 7 accounts, while the remaining reported accounts remained suspended, TOI said.

In April of the previous year, Twitter had banned a record 682,420 accounts promoting child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity in India between January 26 and February 25. Additionally, the platform removed 1,548 accounts for promoting terrorism within the country.

In its monthly report, Twitter, in compliance with the new IT Rules, 2021, mentioned receiving only 73 complaints from users in India during the same time frame through its grievance redressal mechanisms. Furthermore, Twitter processed 27 grievances related to appealing account suspensions.