NEW DELHI: Twitter is seeking to overturn certain orders by the Indian government to remove content on the social media platform, a source familiar with the matter said, in a legal challenge that alleges abuse of power by authorities.
The US firm’s bid for judicial review is part of a growing conflict with New Delhi.
Twitter has been asked by Indian authorities to act on content over the past year, posts allegedly spreading misinformation about farmers’ protests and tweets critical of the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic Huh.
The IT ministry did not immediately respond on Tuesday to a request for comment about Twitter’s legal move.
The government has previously said that large social media firms, including Twitter, have not complied with requests for removal, despite their legal status.
Late last month, Twitter was warned of criminal proceedings by the IT ministry if it did not comply with certain orders. Twitter complied this week, the source said, so as not to lose the liability waiver available as hosting the content.
Twitter, in its request for judicial review, argued that some of the removal orders fell short of the procedural requirements of India’s IT Act, the source said, without specifying which ones Twitter wanted to review.
The IT Act allows the government to block public access to content in the interest of national security, among other reasons.
Twitter, which market research firms say has about 24 million users in India, also argued in its filing that some of the orders failed to give notice to the authors of the content.
It also states that some were related to political content posted by official handles of political parties, blocking of which is a violation of freedom of expression, the source said.
Tensions with the government escalated early last year when Twitter refused to fully comply with an order to remove accounts and posts New Delhi alleged about anti-government protests by farmers. spreading false information.
The company has also been under police scrutiny in India and last year several government ministers moved to the home-grown platform Ku, alleging non-compliance with local laws.
Twitter has also faced a backlash in India for blocking the accounts of influential individuals, including politicians, citing violations of its policies.
India, which has one of the highest government requests to remove content, shows the Industry Transparency Report, is considering some amendments to its new IT rules with the power to reverse the content moderation decisions of social media firms by the government. Including the introduction of a powered appeals panel. ,
New Delhi has said that such measures were needed as the companies violated the constitutional rights of Indians.
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