The Indian government has lifted the nationwide block on the news portal The Wire after the site removed a report related to the Rafael jet deal. The story, originally published on May 8 and based on coverage by CNN, triggered a complaint that led to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) directing a complete block of the website on May 9. The ministry later cited technical constraints of HTTPS protocols, stating it was unable to block just the specific article and had to restrict the entire domain instead. In compliance, The Wire took down the article on May 9 at 10:40 p.m. and informed the ministry of the action taken.

Editor Sidharth Varadarajan criticized the government’s move, calling it an “unconstitutional attack on press freedom.” He pointed out that the report in question had already been publicly available for over 12 hours and questioned the urgency and lack of procedure in the website’s sudden blocking. He said no official notice was served prior to the action and highlighted the delay of over seven hours in the ministry’s response to their queries. Despite restoring access, users across different regions and networks reportedly continue to face difficulties accessing The Wire.

The ministry assured that The Wire would be allowed to submit its comments or clarifications before an Inter-Departmental Committee as per the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. While The Wire complied to restore website access, it maintained that the takedown was under protest and reserved its constitutional rights to seek legal remedies. The incident has reignited the debate over press freedom, government overreach, and the transparency of digital media regulation in India.