Twitter may overturn India’s orders to take down certain tweets, accounts

Twitter’s attempt to get a judicial review is a part of a growing confrontation with India.

New Delhi: Social media platform Twitter may overturn some of the orders of the Indian government to take down content from the platform, said a source familiar with the development. The US-based company’s attempt to get a judicial review is a part of a growing confrontation with India.

In the past, the Centre had asked Twitter to take down various contents put up on its platform. Tweets and accounts that supported an independent Sikh state, alleged misinformation about protests by farmers and those critical of the government’s handling of the Covid-19 were asked to be pulled down.

Meanwhile, also on Tuesday, Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Social media accountability has become a valid question globally. It’s important to hold it accountable, which will first start with self-regulation, then industry regulation, followed by government regulation. “Be it any company, in any sector, they should abide by the laws of India. This is the responsibility of everyone to abide by the laws passed by Parliament.”

Speaking to a news agency, Vaishnaw said, “An ecosystem, thought process that social media should be held accountable, is spreading in our country as well as globally. Rapid work is underway on how to make it accountable.”

Earlier, the Centre had said that social media platforms such as Twitter have not complied with removal requests. It had also warned Twitter of criminal proceedings. Reuters quoted a source who said Twitter complied this week so as not to lose liability exemptions available as a host of content.

Twitter argues in its request for a judicial review that some removal orders fell short of the procedural requirements of India’s IT Act, the source said, without specifying which ones Twitter wanted to be reviewed.

The IT act allows the government to block public access to content in the interest of national security, among other reasons.

(With agency inputs)