Following strict government orders, US-based microblogging platform Twitter has blocked 97 percent of accounts flagged by the IT Ministry.
The IT Ministry had complained that all these flagged accounts were tweeting with inflammatory hashtags and incendiary content about the ongoing farmers’ movement in India.
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As per PTI, the government asked Twitter to take down 1,178 accounts out of which 1398 accounts have been blocked so far that have possible links with supporters of Khalistan and Pakistan. Following this move by Twitter, it is likely to reduce its tussle with the government.
Twitter’s action on the Ministry’s order came after a meeting in which several government officials including IT Secretary Ajay Prakash had a meeting with the top executives of Twitter and made it clear that the company must comply with local laws. Only after this meeting, the microblogging platform has taken action against the flagged accounts.
Prior to that, the government had also submitted a list of 257 handles and tweets, out of which 220 have been blocked by Twitter, in connection with the farmers’ protest over the farm laws.
Earlier, on Wednesday, the government had expressed ‘strong resentment’ over Twitter’s delay in taking prompt action against the account and hashtag spreading misinformation about the farmers’ movement.
The Ministry of Information Technology made it clear that the company may have its own rules, but it must follow the Indian laws and rules.
Meanwhile, Twitter India and the Central Government has received a notice from the Supreme Court of India on the plea seeking a mechanism for regulating fake news, hate news and seditious posts.
