Delhi seeks Twitter dialogue

TWITTER said on Monday (8) it was seeking talks with India’s technology minister, days after the country asked the US social media giant to take down 1,178 accounts it says are spreading misinformation about ongoing farmers’ protests.

New Delhi wrote to Twitter last Thursday (4) asking the firm to remove the accounts, which it claimed were backed by Pakistan or operated by sympathisers of Sikh separatists, two technology ministry sources said, adding the company had yet to comply.

India’s security agencies said some accounts were being operated from abroad and were sharing and amplifying misinformation and provocative content on the farmers’ protests, one of the tech ministry sources said, declining to be named as the order was not public.

Twitter did not comment on whether it had complied with the government’s order.

“We continue to be engaged with the government from a position of respect and have reached out to the minister for a formal dialogue,” a spokeswoman for Twitter in India said.

Last week, India sent Twitter a notice of non-compliance. It threatened its executives with jail terms and fines after the company did not obey another government order to block content that alleged Modi’s administration was trying to wipe out the protesting farmers.

On Monday, Twitter for the first time said it had formally acknowledged receipt of the non-compliance notice.