Twitter on Wednesday said it has withheld some of the accounts flagged by the Indian government for blocking “within India only”, but has not blocked handles of civil society activists, politicians and media as “it would violate their fundamental right to free expression” guaranteed under country’s law. The company noted it does not believe that the actions it has been directed to take by the IT Ministry are consistent with the Indian law. Also Read: Missed Your Vaccination? Here’s Another Chance For Healthcare, Frontline Workers – Check Fresh Deadlines Here
“We took steps to reduce the visibility of the hashtags containing harmful content, which included prohibiting them from trending on Twitter and appearing as recommended search terms. We took a range of enforcement actions — including permanent suspension in certain cases — against more than 500 accounts escalated across all MeitY orders for clear violations of Twitter’s Rules,” said Twitter in a blog post.
“In keeping with our principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression, we have not taken any action on accounts that consist of news media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians. “To do so, we believe, would violate their fundamental right to free expression under Indian law,” the micro-blogging platform reiterated. In the aftermath of the farmer’s protests and social media reactions including Twitter where people expressed their agitation over the issue, the micro-blogging site has finally come out openly sharing its opinion on the matter.
Transparency is the foundation for promoting healthy public conversation.
Following the reports of violence in recent weeks, we’re sharing a granular update on our proactive efforts to enforce our rules and defend our principles in India: https://t.co/ry557Nj94U
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) February 10, 2021
The detailed statement has come amid reports of growing tussle between the Centre and Twitter after the social media platform has been accused of sitting on the government’s order for a day when the Centre asked it to block over 250 handles. As per the Hindustan Times report a day after Centre’s order, Twitter blocked those handles only for a few hours. The Centre has also warned Twitter of penal actions.
“It is critical that people understand our approach to content moderation and how we engage with governments around the world, and that we are transparent about the consequences and the results of this work. Our Transparency Report and Lumen continue to be the places to go to observe trends in the requests governments make of us, and to assess how we operate globally,” said Twitter in an official blog post.
As per IANS report, the company, facing penal action if does not comply with the directions given by the IT Ministry in three notices to block nearly 1,435 accounts in questions in the wake of the farmers’ protests, said that it has withheld a portion of the accounts identified in the blocking orders under its ‘Country Withheld Content’ policy within India only.
The company shared a granular update on its efforts to enforce rules and defend its principles in India saying these accounts, however, will continue to be available outside of India.
The IT Ministry also took cognizance of a clear attempt to polarise India when international celebrities with hardly any expertise on Indian affairs extended their support to the protesters agitating against the three new farm laws.
The government also took a serious note of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey “liking” a Tweet asking for an emoji for the hashtag #FarmersProtests
