Twitter Is Dictating Terms To World's Largest Democracy, Says Indian Govt

The Government of India has responded to the statements made by Twitter where it revealed that it was concerned about the recent events regarding our employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people.

ANI

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India¡¯s glorious tradition of free speech

In a press release by the Government of India, it has stated that it has strongly controverted the claims made by Twitter, ¡°India has a glorious tradition of free speech and democratic practices dating back centuries. Protecting free speech in India is not the prerogative of a for-profit foreign entity like Twitter but it is the commitment of the world¡¯s largest democracy and its robust institutions.¡±

The Government of India states that Twitter with its statements is trying to dictate its terms to the world¡¯s largest democracy while also undermining the nation¡¯s legal system. It also stated that Twitter failed to comply with the regulations listed in the intermediary guidelines that allow the platform to harbour protection from any criminal liability.

Govt asks Twitter tough questions

The Government of India also asked Twitter why it didn¡¯t set up a mechanism of its own in India when it was so committed towards Indian citizens. The release addressed the problem that Twitter lacked authority and that issues faced by Indian citizens had to be reported to Twitter HQ in the US, stating that the commitment that Twitter talks about not just ¡°sounds hollow but is also completely self-serving.¡±

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Reuters

The need for the new MeitY guidelines

The press release states that the new rules ¡°empower the ordinary users who become victims of defamation, morphed images, sexual abuse and the whole range of other abusive content in blatant violation of law, to seek redress.¡±

The release also highlights that the rules were finalised after a series of consultations which included the representatives of social media platforms. MeitY had put the draft of the rules in the public domain while seeking public comments on the same.

These rules were drafted after various judicial orders from courts across the nation including the Supreme Court of India that directed the government to take necessary steps. Additionally, these rules were a result of several parliamentary debates and recommendations.

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Freedom of speech and right to privacy

Addressing the issue surrounding the freedom of speech and right to speech, the Government of India said, ¡°Freedom of Speech and Expression is a fundamental right under the Indian constitution. The Government of India respects the right of the people to ask questions and also criticise on these social media platforms, including on Twitter. The government equally respects the right to privacy.¡±

The Government of India, however, stated how the only instance where free speech was shut down was by Twitter on its platform, ¡°However, the only instance of scuttling free speech on Twitter is Twitter itself and its opaque policies, as a result of which people¡¯s accounts are suspended and tweets are deleted arbitrarily without recourse.¡±

Twitter just social media platform

The Government of India, in its next power play move, asked Twitter to ¡°stop beating around the bush and comply with the laws of the land.¡±

It further went on to say that ¡°Lawmaking and policy of the formulations is the sole prerogative of the sovereign and Twitter is just a social media platform and it has no locus in dictating what India¡¯s legal policy framework should be.¡±

Reuters

Government talking about Twitter¡¯s invisible commitment to the people of India

In a series of examples, the Government of India spoke about how Twitter was almost invisible in its commitment towards Indian citizens. It stated instances of Twitter showing geo-location of certain locations in the Union Territory of Ladakh as a part of the People¡¯s Republic of China, which was fixed after several reminders and showed ¡°blatant disrespect to India¡¯s sensitivity and territorial integrity.¡±

It also gave examples of when the Government had asked Twitter to take down or block content during the unlawful incidents at the Red Fort, New Delhi, and it responded to comply long after the damage was done.

It also spoke about spreading harmful content spreading on its platform including vaccine hesitancy as well as discriminatory practices by malicious tagging of B.1.617 mutant as the ¡®Indian Variant¡¯ even after WHO¡¯s guidelines against it.

Addressing concerns for employees of social media companies in India

Concluding its statements, the Government of India stated that it ¡°wishes to emphatically assure that representatives of social media companies in India including Twitter are and will always remain safe in India and there is no threat to their personal safety and security.¡±

It added that it condemned the unfortunate statement issued by Twitter as totally baseless, false and an attempt to defame India to hide their own follies.