IT Correspondent
New Delhi, Feb 8:
Amid the impasse between the government and Twitter over the demand to block 257 accounts with posts related to the farmers’ protests, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) asked the company last week, to take down over 1,178 accounts that may “foment trouble”.
Similar kinds of accounts, as the 257 flagged earlier, were identified and the directions were sent to the micro blogging site. Some of these seem to bots, some propped by other countries. They all aim to foment trouble and unsettle the situation, an official said. The directions were issued under the section 69 (A) of the IT Act that allows the government to take action against posts and accounts that may pose a threat to public order.
Twitter came under fire from the MEITY for “violating Indian law” by not taking down tweets related to “farmers’ genocide”. It sent Twitter a sternly worded notice, threatening the company with penal consequences if over 250 accounts and posts that were flagged by the government weren’t blocked.
The firm, which blocked the accounts on Monday, restored them shortly after, stating that they constituted “free speech” and were “newsworthy”. The lifting of the local ban came in the backdrop of widespread outrage against Twitter for censoring free speech. The accounts are still accessible. The official said that the government was keeping its options open. “We have respect for democratic processes, so we are exercising restraint. We don’t want to take harsh measures.”
The official stated that the accounts were flagged by security agencies as “accounts of Khalistan sympathisers or backed by Pakistan and operating from foreign territories and causing threat to public order in view of the ongoing farmers protests in some parts of India”.
“Many of these accounts were also automated bots that were used for sharing and amplifying misinformation and provocative contents on farmers protests. However, Twitter has not yet complied with this order.
“It is also pertinent to note that a few days ago, CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey had liked several tweets made by foreign based celebrities in support of farmer protests. In view of this, defiance of government orders by Twitter raises several questions. Further, Twitter has not yet challenged any of these orders in any court of India either. Logically any company is free to appeal against any government order if it feels it cannot comply with that order”, the official added.
