X restores RT India account after brief suspension

Social media platform X has reinstated the English-language account belonging to RT’s India branch, days after it was suspended for “impersonating” RT – a claim the channel has denied.

The suspension notice sent to RT India on Tuesday stated that the account had allegedly violated the platform’s rules. The channel questioned the move in a post on X, suggesting that RT India was “not impersonating anyone” as it is a legitimate part of RT. The channel then expressed hope that the situation was “a simple misunderstanding.” In another post, RT asked the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, to intervene.

After its account was restored on Friday, RT India, along with thousands of its followers, thanked Musk. “Freedom of speech, perhaps, really does exist!” the channel said in a post.

The incident comes months after the US imposed harsh sanctions against RT, its editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, and several network executives, branding the channel a tool of Russian government propaganda.

READ MORE: Why the world’s largest democracy isn’t buying ‘freedom of speech’ US-style

The US State Department has accused RT of playing a major role in eroding support for Ukraine around the world. Following the sanctions, Meta – which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp – banned RT and several other Russian outlets from its platforms globally, including in India.

Following the sanctions, the US State Department announced a “joint diplomatic campaign” to be implemented in concert with Canada and the UK “to rally allies and partners around the world to join us in addressing the threat posed by RT and other machinery of Russian disinformation and covert influence.” 

Reports in the Indian media then suggested that Washington had reached out to New Delhi regarding imposing a block on RT in India; however, the Indian government was reluctant to back Washington’s efforts.

“When non-Western countries place curbs on their own media or suppress dissent, the US is quick to condemn this as a breach of democracy. Even in situations of breaches of law and order, rioting, and violence, when curbs are temporarily placed on social media and the internet, the US is quick to denounce them,” Kanwal Sibal, a former Indian foreign secretary and RT columnist, claimed at the time.