Twitter yields partly to govt diktat
GOVT HAS KOO, THE DESI COUNTER, READY…
The social media giant Twitter has suspended over 500 accounts and blocked access to several others within India, as it partly acceded to a government order to curb spread of misinformation and inflammatory content stemming from farmers' protests.
Twitter, of course, had little choice in the matter: any infringement of the government's diktat would have attracted penal action, including potential jail terms. A part of the problem is that India happens to be its third largest area of operation.
As a face-saver, Twitter, in a blogpost, added it has not blocked accounts consisting of "news media entities, journalists, activists and politicians" as doing so "would violate their fundamental right to free expression" guaranteed under the country's law. The government, however, termed as "unusual" Twitter's move to publish the blogpost before slated talks with the IT Secretary on the issue.
There were other indications Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey may not yield so easily. "We are exploring options under Indian law — both for Twitter and for the accounts that have been impacted," the social giant sources were cited as saying. In other words, it will rather go to court than simply comply with orders it believes are over-reaching.
Also, it has asserted that it will be proactive in efforts to enforce its rules and defend its principles in India.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had first directed the microblogging platform to remove more than 250 accounts and this week added over 1,000 more under the rules of the Information Technology Act, which allows such actions in the interest of the country's sovereignty, defence and security.
Mostly, these accounts were alleged to have links to Pakistan and Khalistan supporters who were spreading misinformation and provocative content related to farmers' protest.
It is understood that the government has told Twitter in its latest directive that it must delete 257 handles, and this was nonnegotiable. Sources said the government is not happy with Twitter's response despite repeated notices to streamline the system.