India blocks X accounts of Chinese, Turkish media over "misinformation"

India has blocked the X accounts of several Chinese and Turkish state-run media outlets, citing the spread of misinformation. 

Among those restricted are the official accounts of Global Times, Xinhua, and TRT World, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

While their presence on X has been curtailed, the outlets’ websites and Instagram handles remain accessible within the country. 

The move against TRT World comes in the wake of remarks from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which pointed to Türkiye’s support for Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, India’s military response to the recent Pahalgam terror attack.

This action also coincides with a social media post by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, declaring: “Long live Pakistan-Türkiye friendship!” India’s action against Chinese media was triggered by a controversial report from Global Times, which claimed that Pakistan had shot down an Indian fighter jet following Indian airstrikes across multiple Pakistani locations.

The report, citing unnamed Pakistani military sources, said: “This is the third Indian fighter jet that has been shot down in response to the overnight strikes, said the military sources: Xinhua.” Both Global Times and Xinhua’s X accounts have since been blocked in India.

Reacting to the report, the Indian Embassy in Beijing issued a strong rebuttal: “Dear Global Times, we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of disinformation.”

The developments come amid renewed tensions between New Delhi and Beijing over China’s announcement of Chinese names for several locations in Arunachal Pradesh, a territory Beijing claims as part of southern Tibet. India has firmly rejected the move, calling the renaming exercise “vain and preposterous.” 

Reaffirming India’s stance, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated: “We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically.” He added, “The state was, is, and will always remain an integral part of India.”

By Naila Huseynova