Social media platform X has blocked posts in India involving political speech following orders from the country's election commission ahead of upcoming polls, the company said late on Tuesday.

"In compliance with the orders, we have withheld these posts for the remainder of the election period," X said in a statement.

Despite complying, X expressed disagreement with the action and maintained that "freedom of expression should extend to these posts and political speech in general."

The posts, which will be hidden from Indian audiences during the election period, included unverified claims about political opponents, the Election Commission of India said in a letter.  

Modi critics believe freedom of expression at risk in India

X, formerly known as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk, faced a similar situation in Brazil where it was asked to block disinformation-spreading users.

Musk initially threatened to disregard the Brazilian court order but eventually adhered to it.

The billionaire and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to meet his month to explore investment opportunities in India.

Modi's critics say that freedom of expression in India is diminishing. Last year, an Indian court fined X $61,000 (€57,404) because the platform initially resisted removing tweets and accounts that criticized the Modi administration.

India's ranking in the World Press Freedom Index has fallen 21 places to 161 out of 180 countries since Modi took office in 2014.

Tuesday's announcement came as India gears up for its general election starting April 19, involving nearly 968 million voters.

ss/wd (AFP, Reuters)