Hyderabad, Feb. 24 -- The X account of Azad Essa, a US-based South African journalist and senior reporter with Middle East Eye (MEE), has been withheld in India following an order issued by the government under the Information Technology Act.

Essa said he received an email from "X Support" on February 20 informing him that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had invoked Section 69A of the Information Technology Act to restrict access to his handle, @azadessa, within India.

"In the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that X has received a blocking order from the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting citing Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, regarding your X account," the email state...