On Monday, Twitter withheld several accounts in India in response to a “legal request” by the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information (MEITY) and restored them later the same day. The list of accounts included the Kisan Ekta Morcha, which is the IT cell of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, and the Caravan Magazine, both of whom were involved in the ongoing farmers’ protests. Apart from withholding accounts, several tweets were blocked by the social media giant. According to ANI, all the accounts were suspended under Section 69A of the IT Act, as they were using hashtags that were “fake, intimidatory, and provocative.” The hashtag being referred to was: “#ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide”.
Furthermore, the Delhi police said that the cyber cell had “flagged” 250 accounts, all of whom were “peddling fake news, causing disharmony, disrupting public peace and posting old content without clarifications from police.” The statement said that these accounts posted “fake, misleading and wrong information” about the death of a tractor driver during the Republic Day clash.
Twitter clarified that the Indian MEITY had called for the suspension of the accounts, a request that the company denied as they believed that the “accounts and tweets in question constitute free speech and are newsworthy.” Consequently, with the aim of “protect[ing] public conversation,” the accounts were restored. According to Twitter’s policy, an account or tweet being marked as withdrawn indicated that Twitter was “compelled” to do so “in response to a valid legal demand, such as a court order.” However, it said, “such withholding will be limited to the specific jurisdiction that has issued the valid legal demand or where the content has been found to violate local laws.” Further, it clarified, “Transparency is vital to protecting freedom of expression, so we have a notice policy for withheld content. Upon receipt of requests to withhold content, we will promptly notify affected users unless we are prohibited from doing so (e.g, if we have received a court order under seal).”
The decision to withhold the accounts attracted criticism from several netizens and political leaders. Amongst those who spoke out against the decision were Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, both of whom called this a violation of the users’ freedom of speech. The Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group, further criticised Section 69A, which it believes allowed the government to carry out “secret censorship” in the absence of “any independent judicial oversight.”
This comes less than a week after the farmers’ protests in India took a violent turn on the same day that the country celebrated its 72nd Republic Day. As the protestors stormed into the city, at least one demonstrator was reported to have died in the clash, with around 80 police officers injured. Citing security reasons, the central government imposed an internet shutdown and suspended the metro services in some areas in the capital city. Moreover, to contain the violence, the government also brought in 15 companies of paramilitary forces to disperse the protests.
Twitter Restores Accounts Withheld For Allegedly Inciting Violence at Farmers’ Protests
Twitter restored the accounts that had been previously withdrawn upon the instructions of the Indian government, for their alleged role in inciting violence at the farmers’ protests.
February 2, 2021
SOURCE: THE PRINT