India Sikh-censorship spree prompts Musk to challenge Modi

A mass overnight censorship campaign of Sikh posts on Twitter (now called X) by India prompted new owner Elon Musk to finally challenge the Indian State’s manipulation of the social media site last week.

On 20th February The Sikh Press Association received dozens of reports of Sikh X users receiving emails from X stating they were being given transparent notice of “a legal removal demand from the Government of India”. In response, within 24-hours Elon Musk’s Global Affairs team issued a statement saying “we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression“ and would issue a “writ appeal” to challenge India.

Note- The Sikh Press Association recognise there are thousands of Sikh X (Twitter) users who have been issued with these notices, many of whom may not be aware of it. The Sikh Press Association also recognise there is ample evidence to point to shadow-bans on Sikh accounts, whilst Indian State propaganda (including anti-Sikh rhetoric) is allowed space to grow and spread across the site, making X (Twitter) complicit in India’s transnational repression of Sikhs.

The move carried out under the watch of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s far-right BJP party came amid the ongoing #FarmersProtest2024 stand against his government, whilst countless other critics of India use X to raise awareness of the human rights breaches going on in the country. In 2023, the world also officially recognised India’s anti-Sikh transnational repression program, which sees USA and Canada still leading investigations with the intent to prosecute specific individuals guilty of carrying out terrorism via espionage. The censorship is also viewed as a tool to aid Modi’s run for reelection as PM during this year’s upcoming Indian elections.

Whilst India’s censorship of critics and also Sikh sovereignty advocates (specifically, the Khalistan [free Sikh homeland] movement) is long-known, the latest effort reveals a particularly concerning focus on diluting, erasing and coopting basic understandings of the Sikh faith (see below).

Celebrity billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, claiming to want to promote freedom of speech. However, Indian State manipulation of the site through use of bots, funded-propaganda, disinformation and censorship has not changed, and arguably even increased under Musk’s watch.

Speaking on the issue, Sikh Press Association Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said:

“Sikhs across the world will welcome Musk officially challenging Modi. What India is using Twitter to do to Sikhs is against everything Musk claims to stand for. Whilst bots blatantly amplify Indian State propaganda, which includes attempts to distort the Sikh faith for a nationalist agenda, respected establishments like the SGPC are seeing basic posts deleted. X (formerly Twitter) is becoming a hotbed of Hindu extremist activity, openly. Countless Sikhs will be hoping the writ is just the first step of Musk’s efforts to tackle this issue on his site.

“There are certain to be thousands of Sikh users censored in one-way-or-another on X. This goes way beyond not just the recent censorship, but also the idea that India is only blocking content in India. The wider Indian State influence on Twitter has already been revealed and remains obvious. The question is, is Elon Musk the man to stop it?”

Media inquiries- media@sikhpa.com.