‘Not Aware’: Musk On Twitter India’s Removal Of Posts Related To BBC Documentary On PM Modi

Tech billionaire Elon Musk recently commented on Twitter India’s removal of content related to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, released in January this year. Musk said in a recent interview with BBC that he was not aware of the specifics regarding the content takedown, but acknowledged that social media content rules in India are “quite strict.”

In January, the Indian government directed Twitter to block over 50 tweets that linked to a BBC documentary titled “India: The Modi Question”, on Modi’s leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The documentary was not aired in India, but some YouTube channels uploaded the video.

“I am not aware of this particular situation… don’t know what exactly happened with some content situation in India,” Musk said in an interview with the BBC broadcast live on Twitter Spaces as quoted by Reuters.

The documentary focused on Modi’s leadership as chief minister of Gujarat during the riots, in which at least 1,000 people were killed. During the interview, Musk also said that if complying with the laws means avoiding the imprisonment of Twitter employees, then Twitter will comply.

Several YouTube videos that shared the initial episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question” were blocked based on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s directions on January 21. In addition, the government had instructed Twitter to block more than 50 tweets that contained links to these YouTube videos.

YouTube and Twitter complied with the government after the Secretary of Information and Broadcasting reportedly issued emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021. The BBC, a national broadcaster in the UK, aired a two-part series that criticized PM Modi’s term as Gujarat Chief Minister during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The documentary sparked controversy in India and was subsequently removed from specific platforms.