NEW DELHI: Calling an “outright lie”, the Centre has strongly responded to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s allegations that the Indian authorities exerted a variety of ‘strain’ on the micro-blogging platform to ‘block’ sure accounts throughout the farmers’ protest. Union Minister of State for Electronics & Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar termed the allegation as an ‘outright le’ including that ‘nobody went to jail nor was Twitter shutdown’. The Union Minister went on to state that the Twitter regime beneath Dorsey had an issue accepting the sovereignty of Indian regulation.
“This is an outright lie by @jack – perhaps an attempt to brush out that very dubious period of twitters history,” the minister mentioned within the tweet.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar additionally pointed to some ‘Facts and fact’ about Twitter and mentioned, “@twitter under Dorsey n his team were in repeated n continuous violations of Indian law. As a matter of fact, they were in non-compliance with the law repeatedly from 2020 to 2022 and it was only June 2022 when they finally complied. No one went to jail nor was Twitter “shutdown”.”
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This is an outright lie by @jack – maybe an try to brush out that very doubtful interval of twitters historical past
Facts and fact@twitter undr Dorsey n his crew have been in repeated n steady violations of India regulation. As a matter of reality they have been in non-compliance with regulation… https://t.co/SlzmTcS3Fa
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@Rajeev_GoI) June 13, 2023
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Jack Dorsey Alleges Pressure From Indian Govt
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The response from the Centre got here after former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, in an exploratory comment, claimed that India had put strain on the micro-blogging platform, together with giving threats of winding it down and conducting raids on staff` houses. During an interview with YouTube channel Breaking Points late on Monday, Dorsey mentioned that the threats got here as Twitter refused to adjust to the federal government`s calls for to dam accounts throughout the farmers` protests in early 2021.
“We would raid the homes of your employees`, which they did; We will shut down your offices if you don`t follow suit. And this is India, a democratic country,” Dorsey mentioned on the channel when requested to share some examples of strain from international governments throughout his tenure earlier than Elon Musk took over.
“India is a country that had many requests of us around the farmers` protest, around particular journalists that were critical of the government, and it manifested in ways such as `we will shut Twitter down in India`, which is a very large market for us,” Dorsey additional mentioned.
Last yr, Twitter informed the Karnataka High Court that it was requested to fully block quite a few a number of accounts throughout the farmers` agitation on the borders of Delhi in 2021. Twitter, in its petition earlier than the High Court, maintained that blocking orders by the Union authorities violates the rights of customers beneath the Constitution. The petition additionally describes the transfer of the federal government as arbitrary and in violation of Section 69 A of the IT Act.
The Central authorities maintained that the blocking orders have been issued within the nationwide and public curiosity, and motion was taken to stop lynching and mob violence.
Congress Hits Out At Centre Over Twitter ‘Raids’
Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday mounted strain on the BJP-led NDA authorities on the Centre over the previous Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey`s remarks and requested if the Narendra Modi authorities will reply.
In a tweet, Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala mentioned, “Modi government forced Twitter to shut down accounts of farmers and farmer`s movement, shut down accounts of journalists critical of government or Twitter and its employees would be raided. This is what Twitter Co-Founder and Ex CEO Jack Dorsey admits in a TV interview. Will Modi Government answer?”
The Youth Congress and National Students` Union of India additionally took to Twitter to share the clip of Dorsey`s declare which he made throughout an interview to the YouTube channel Breaking Points on Monday.
NSUI president Neeraj Kundan in a tweet mentioned, “BJP is the killer of democracy, it is being proved again and again. This is Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter. Here he is saying `During farmer protest Indian government pressurised us and said we will shut down Twitter, and raid the homes of your employees if you don`t follow suite`.”
Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV took a swipe on the authorities and mentioned, “Mother of Democracy – Unfiltered.” “During farmer protest, Modi govt pressurized us and said we will shut down your offices, raid your employees` homes, which they did if you don`t follow suit – Jack Dorsey, former Twitter CEO,” Srinivas wrote on Twitter attaching the video clip of Dorsey`s interview.
Even Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) faction chief Priyanka Chaturvedi slammed the BJP and mentioned, “The BJP and the government tried to crush the farmers’ protest, they tried to defame the movement, they called farmers terrorists, they called farmers anti-national, they lathi-charged the farmers, they let farmers die, they tried to silence the opposition in parliament, they tried to arm-twist social media platforms to mute the voices of those supporting the farmers… but despite their might, despite their power, the farmers humbled their arrogance and forced the government to withdraw the farmers act. Indian democracy or rule of Modiocracy?”
Farmers from a number of states staged protests on the borders of Delhi for over a yr from November 2020. Prime Minister Narendra Modi admitted the failure in convincing the farmers and appealed to them to name off their year-long protest. In the winter session of Parliament, the three legal guidelines have been withdrawn.
