Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the minister of state for Electronics and IT on Friday said social media site Twitter repeatedly violated Indian laws and hesitated to remove misinformation on the platform when former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jack Dorsey led the company.
The minister welcomed Karnataka High Court’s ruling that dismissed Twitter’s plea challenging the government’s orders to block tweets and accounts related to farmers’ protests in 2020 and 2021. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on the social media giant citing its conduct.
“Twitter, under Dorsey’s regime, exhibited partisan behaviour by hesitating to remove misinformation from the platform in India, despite doing so when similar events occurred in the USA” Chandrasekhar said.
Twitter had appealed in the high court against 10 blocking orders by the central government for taking down 39 URLs between February 2021 and February 2022. The company said some of the blocking orders were “procedurally and substantially deficient of the provision” and “demonstrate excessive use of powers”.
The minister added that “They (Twitter) were non-compliant multiple times from 2020 to 2022, and only in June 2022 did they finally comply. The High Court’s dismissal of Twitter’s plea is evidence that Jack Dorsey’s Twitter regime had difficulty acknowledging the sovereignty of Indian law. They can no longer act as if Indian laws do not apply to them.”
The Ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) issued a notice to the Chief Compliance Officer of Twitter Inc. in June last year, giving the company ‘one last opportunity’ to act on multiple content take-down notices.
“As a sovereign nation, India has the right to ensure that its laws are followed by all companies operating within its jurisdiction. During the protests in January 2021, there was an abundance of misinformation and even reports of fake genocide. The government was obligated to remove such misinformation from the platform to prevent the further escalation of the situation based on fake news,” Chandrasekhar said, sharing the details of the blocking orders.
As per section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the government reserves the power to issue directions for blocking public access to any information under specific circumstances. It can ask to take down any digital information in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, and defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order.
“It is our responsibility as the Government of India, that any company whether foreign or Indian, big or small, must comply with Indian laws. They do not discriminate against anybody.
In the IT rules enacted in October 2022, it has been prescribed that no platform in India can violate article 14, 19 or 21 or indeed any other fundamental rights of an Indian citizen, so that is a matter of law,” the minister said.
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