Twitter says staff being intimidated, worried for safety
A SPOKESPERSON SAID THE COMPANY WILL STRIVE TO COMPLY WITH THE APPLICABLE LAW WHILE BEING GUIDED BY THE PRINCIPLES OF TRANSPARENCY
NEW DELHI: Twitter on Thursday said it was worried about the safety of its staff in India, days after police visited one of its offices as part of a probe related to the firm’s tagging of some BJP posts as “manipulated media”.
The Delhi Police said the statements by Twitter on the ongoing inquiry in the “toolkit” case was mendacious and designed to impede the lawful enquiry.
NEW DELHI: Microblogging platform Twitter on Thursday raised concerns regarding “intimidation tactics by the police” and with the “core elements” of the new social media and intermediary guidelines, as the compliance deadline for the controversial guidelines lapsed on May 25.
The Delhi Police, however, hit back calling the allegations “mendacious” and designed to “impede the lawful enquiry”.
A Twitter spokesperson said that the company has sought a three month extension to implement the new rules and is committed to the people of India and it will strive to comply with the applicable law while being guided by the principles of transparency.
“Twitter is deeply committed to the people of India. Our service has proven vital for the public conversation and a source of support for people during the pandemic. To keep our service available, we will strive to comply with applicable law in India,” the spokesperson said.
“But we will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law.”
The controversial intermediary and digital platform guidelines came into complete effect on May 25, with social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp yet to comply with all the clauses. The guidelines put in place a new mechanism for companies to regulate content, appoint officers who will be liable for compliance, and adopt features such as traceability of messages and voluntary user verification. WhatsApp has challenged the new rules, which mandate to trace the first originator of a message, in the Delhi high court stating it represents a “dangerous invasion of privacy”.
The social media platform has also flagged concerns regarding its employees in Indian and the “potential threat to freedom of expression” and said that it will continue to strive to advocate changes to the new guidelines that inhibit open public conversation.
“We, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules,” the spokesperson said.
Hitting back, Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Biswal issued an official statement, saying, “Prima facie, these statements are not only mendacious but designed to impede a lawful inquiry by a private enterprise. Twitter Inc. has taken upon itself, in the garb of terms of service, to adjudicate the truth or otherwise of documents in public space.”
According to the statement, Twitter is purporting to be both investigating authority and adjudicating authority, but has no legal sanction to be either.The only legal entity to investigate is the police and to adjudicate is the courts, the statement said.