New Delhi: Twitter has sparked another controversy as its website shows a distorted map of India on the careers section on its website. The map visible on the ‘Tweep Life’ section shows Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as separate from India.
Sources have confirmed that the Center will issue a strict notice to Twitter on whether the malformed map should be removed or action will be taken against the microblogging platform.
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This is not the first time that social media platforms have shown a wrong map of India. In November 2020, National Security Analyst Nitin A Gokhale found that Twitter had labeled the Indian territory of Leh in Ladakh as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Gokhale, the founder of Strat News Global, had marked his place as ‘Hall of Fame Leh’. However, the microblogging platform featured the region as part of the PRC. The screengrab of the video read, “Nitin A Gokhale was live. Jammu and Kashmir, People’s Republic of China. “
The Indian government issued a warning to CEO Jack Dorsey over the misrepresentation of the Indian map, and Twitter India later issued an apology and removed the images and related tweets.
Twitter is already at loggerheads with the Indian government over compliance with the new IT regulations.
Twitter has already lost legal protection in India when the government removed it from its intermediary position. This means that Twitter will not be considered a platform hosting people’s tweets but will be editorially responsible for the content.
On 20 June, India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations had clarified that India’s new IT regulations are “designed to empower ordinary users of social media” and have been adopted by the government in 2018 with a broader understanding of civil society and other stakeholders. They were finalized after consultations.
The Central Government has framed the Information Technology (Intermediate Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021 (‘New IT Rules’), and notified it on February 25, 2021. The rules have come into force from May 26, 2021.
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