Responding to the government’s demand for a written explanation on why the social media platform had blocked Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s account, Twitter listed ‘copyright infringement’ as a reason under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. did.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat had on June 30 sought a formal explanation from Twitter India within two days after the social media platform temporarily blocked Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is the chairman of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information Technology, directed the message. On June 25, Twitter temporarily suspended Prasad’s account due to copyright infringement, only to apologize and restore it later. Prasad claimed that Twitter was angry with him as he criticized the social media platform for failing to comply with the country’s new IT regulations. The same day, Tharoor replied to Prasad: “Raviji, the same thing happened to me. Clearly the DMCA is being hyperactive. This tweet has been deleted by @Twitter because its video contains copyrighted Bonniem song ‘Rasputin’.
Here’s the full answer to Twitter’s questions:
1. What was the reason/ground for blocking Shree’s Twitter account? Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology and Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Chairman, Standing Committee on Information Technology
In accordance with our Copyright Policy, Twitter responds to copyright complaints submitted under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Section 512 of the DMCA outlines the statutory requirements required to formally report copyright infringement, as well as providing instructions on how an affected party may appeal for removal by submitting a compliance counter-notice. Twitter responds to reports of alleged copyright infringement, such as allegations relating to the unauthorized use of a copyrighted image as a profile or header photo, from unauthorized use of a copyrighted video or image uploaded through our media hosting services Related allegations, or tweets containing links to alleged infringing material.
Twitter’s response to copyright complaints may include removing or restricting access to allegedly infringing material. If we remove or restrict access to User Content in response to a copyright complaint, Twitter may contact the affected account holder with information regarding the removal or restriction of access, including a full copy of the complaint, with instructions. Will make a good effort. With regard to filing the counterclaim. The account holder is asked to review and accept an in-app notification that confirms that they have understood Twitter’s copyright policy and once they do, the account is automatically unlocked.
In an effort to be as transparent as possible with respect to removing or restricting access to user-posted content, we clearly mark Tweets and media as paused to let viewers know when content has been paused.
In the case of Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister of Law & Justice, Communications & Electronics & Information Technology, as well as Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology, Twitter received DMCA notices by the International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Alleging that the video tweets posted on his account infringed copyright works owned by Sony Music Entertainment. For Mr. Prasad, the DMCA notice was in reference to AR Rahman’s original act (i.e. alleged violation): Maa Tujhe Salaam and the reported tweet was (https://twitter.com/rsprasad/status/941874014024167424).
For Dr. Tharoor, the DMCA notice was in reference to Boney M.-Rasputin’s original act (i.e. alleged violation) and the reported tweet was (https://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor/status/1380746375567003649).
Upon receipt of the notice, Twitter complied with its copyright policy, disabled access to the allegedly infringing videos and temporarily locked the accounts. When account holders acknowledged their understanding of our Copyright Policy, the accounts were immediately unlocked. Twitter sent a full copy of the DMCA notice to account holders by email.
2. Whether any prior intimation or intimation was given to the affected persons before the Twitter account was blocked as per the rules;
When we remove or disable the content reported in a copyright complaint, the reported user(s) will receive a copy of the complaint, including the reporter’s full name, email, street address, and any other information included in the complaint will be involved.
User will also get detailed information regarding filing of counter-notice. If the User believes that the Content reported in Copyright Complaints was misidentified or removed in error, the User may send us a counter-notice. A counter-notice is a request by Twitter to reinstate content that has been removed, and has legal consequences. Alternatively, the user can ask the reporter to withdraw the copyright complaint. The reporter’s contact information is included in the DMCA complaint received by the user.
3. What is the standard operating procedure for blocking Twitter accounts? Was the SOP followed in the instant case?
As noted above in the context of these two accounts, when we remove or restrict access to User Content in response to a copyright complaint, the account is temporarily locked (ie, in a “read-only” status) and the account holder is asked to review and accept an in-app notification confirming that they have understood Twitter’s copyright policy; Once this is done, the account is automatically unlocked. This in-app experience also explains the options for resolving the removal available to the user, including the DMCA counter-notification process.
In appropriate circumstances, we may suspend user accounts under our Repeat Violation Policy. However, we may take refunds and counter-notifications into account when implementing our repeat violation policy. We do not withhold content in response to DMCA takedown notices that are incomplete, unrelated to copyright issues, or that we determine as fraudulent.
Importantly, our account holders agree through our Terms of Service that for any Content that they submit, post or display on our Service, they represent or warrant that they have all rights, licences, consents, permissions, powers and/or Necessary authority to confer the given rights. Account Holder also agrees that such Content will not contain Content subject to copyright or other proprietary rights, unless they have the necessary permission or otherwise legally authorize it to post the Content and grant Twitter the license described above . Additionally, through an in-app notification received at the time of content removal, the account holder is asked to review and acknowledge that they have understood Twitter’s copyright policy. In addition, there may be some uses of copyrighted material that do not require the permission of the copyright owner, such as political speech, potentially newsworthy material, or clearly fair use cases.
This type of speech is protected under the United Nations recognized principles of free expression and may not violate Twitter’s copyright policy.
Twitter’s response to copyright complaints may include removing or restricting access to allegedly infringing material. According to our previous Twitter Transparency Report for the January-June 2020 period, Twitter received 15% more DMCA takedown notices during this reporting period affecting 87% more accounts.
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