Government’s stand

THE ROW

• The govt has rebuked Twitter after the US social media giant refused to fully comply with an order to take down over 1,300 accounts and posts, which New Delhi says spread misinformation about the farmers’ agitation.

• Twitter said it had not blocked all content because the directives were not consistent with Indian law.

GOVT TO AMEND LAW

Officials have said the govt is in the process of amending rules under the IT Act, 2000, so that social media companies take “more responsibility”.

EXPERT VIEW

Experts said the row between Twitter and the govt is more a question of rule of law than a free speech issue.

“There is no option for a company, either under the law or under the rules, to not comply with the order,” said NS Nappinai, Supreme Court advocate and founder of Cyber Saathi.

“We respect social media. We also respect criticism. But we will not tolerate the misuse of social media for fake news. Today, from here in Parliament, I politely remind the companies, whether it is Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin or Whatsapp or anyone, they are free to work in India, do business, but they need to respect the Indian Constitution, they need to respect the Indian law.”

—RS PRASAD, Union IT minister