The act by the US tech giant to get “judicial review” comes in line with the escalating confrontation with New Delhi.
Twitter-government conflict: The social media giant is planning to reverse some orders given by the Indian government to remove content on the Twitter platform, a source told Reuters news agency. The case has emerged as a legal challenge, alleging abuse of power by government officials, the news agency said.
This act of seeking “judicial review” by the US tech giant is in line with a growing confrontation with New Delhi, the agency reported. According to the report, last year Twitter was asked by the government to take action on content, including accounts supporting an independent Sikh state, posts spreading misinformation about farmer protests and the government’s handling of COVID-19. Criticizing tweets were included.
The government had already said that Twitter had not complied with requests for removal, despite their legal status.
However, the social media platform has complied with the final notice issued by the Ministry of Electronics and IT on June 27. The Ministry of Electronics and IT had earlier set a July 4 deadline, failing which Twitter could lose its moderator status, meaning it would be liable for all comments posted on its platform.
“Twitter has complied with the notice,” an official source told PTI on condition of anonymity.
According to another official source, the social media firm was asked to take action on certain tweets and Twitter accounts, but microblogging had not previously reported compliance. Twitter declined to comment on the matter.
In May, the government had asked Twitter to take action against Khalistan-related content and accounts praising terrorists in Kashmir. Later in June, the government asked Twitter to take action on about 60 accounts. According to sources, Twitter has acted on the request and notified compliance.
(with inputs from agencies)
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