Social media giant Twitter has challenged the Indian government in court and accused it of abusing its power over the “several” content takedown notices it has received in recent years.
Twitter filed a petition with the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday in response to a letter New Delhi sent in June, wherein it warned the company of “serious consequences” if it failed to comply with such orders in the future. According to sources familiar with the matter, the Indian government had warned the company that it was its “last opportunity” to comply with a number of blocking orders.
BREAKING:
— Munsif Vengattil (@MunsifV) July 5, 2022
Twitter is suing the Indian government. It is seeking to quash some content removal orders issued to the social media firm, alleging abuse of power by the government.
Twitter is attempting to get a judicial review of some of these takedown orders. Developing story... pic.twitter.com/v7kry7iJwA
Twitter, which has over 24 million users in India, has yet to publicly comment on the matter. ABC News reported that company spokesperson Aditi Shorewal declined to confirm whether the company had filed the lawsuit or specify the type of content it had been ordered to censor. However, an unnamed source familiar with the proceedings said the micro-blogging website chose “to challenge the several blocking orders issued by Meity (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) through a writ petition” because of “the seriousness of these [the government’s] threats.”
According to the Hindustan Times, the company argued in its petition that the “multiple accounts and content included in the blocking orders” were “overbroad and arbitrary,” failed “to provide notice to the originators of the content,” or “disproportionate.” The company further argued that some of the notices “could pertain to political content that is posted by official handles of political parties.” “These blocking orders are being challenged on the basis that they are procedurally and substantially deficient of the Section 69A requirements,” the writ petition claims.
#TuesdayMusing
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) July 5, 2022
In India,all incldng foreign Internet intermediaries/platforms have right to court n judicial review.
But equally ALL intermediary/platforms operating here,have unambiguous obligation to comply with our laws n rules. #Open #SafeTrusted #Accountable #Internet
The news of the lawsuit drew harsh reactions from senior government officials. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw defended the government, saying that “be it any company, in any sector, they should abide by the laws of India.” “Social media accountability has become a valid question globally. It is important to hold it accountable, which will first start with self-regulation, then industry regulation, followed by government regulation,” he added.
Similarly, India’s Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said in a tweet that all foreign intermediaries and platforms operating in India “have an unambiguous obligation to comply with our laws and rules.” Chandrasekhar added, however, that such platforms have the freedom to approach the court in the country.
Seeing scores of new Twitter handles being added to the list of “accounts withheld in India on a legal request” everyday.
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) July 5, 2022
I’ve asked Ministry of IT to furnish the list & details.
There’s a silent & unlawful crackdown on social media dissenters by Modi govt going on right now.
Twitter’s lawsuit against the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led government is the latest escalation in their longstanding row.
In February 2021, the government criticised Twitter for failing to comply with its orders under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, under which it ordered the social media giant to take down 1,100 accounts for publishing “inflammatory content” during the farmers’ protests. The accounts were accused of using the hashtag #FarmerGenocide and supporting the Khalistani separatist movement. In response, Twitter stated that the decision was made “in keeping with our principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression.”
Likewise, in April 2021, the Indian Information Technology Ministry called on all social media companies to take down content that referred to the B.1.617 strain of the COVID-19 virus as the “Indian Variant.” In letters addressed to the social media companies, the ministry stated that such miscommunication tainted India’s international image.
#BREAKING: Twitter in India bans official Pakistan Government twitter accounts of Pakistan Embassies in UN, Turkey, Iran and Egypt for spreading propaganda and fake news. More accounts likely to follow. Radio Pakistan was also banned earlier. pic.twitter.com/vms5HXUYc0
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) June 27, 2022
Subsequently, in May, the government introduced a new law that strips social media platforms with over five million users of their right to be protected from the legal consequences of failing to adhere to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. This allows the tech giant to be held responsible for “any third party information, data, or communication” on its platform, which opens the gate for civil and criminal cases.
One month later, authorities filed their first criminal complaint against Twitter over its failure to remove “misleading” posts by journalists and opposition leaders related to an alleged assault on an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad.
Twitter is suing the government of #India.
— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) July 5, 2022
It is challenging #India's targeted removal of content from Muslims, journalists, and dissidents.
Good news, and salute to @Twitter for standing up to Hindutva authoritarianism.
In the latest government-orchestrated crackdown, the company on Tuesday ’withheld’ the Pakistani government’s official handle in India. The move came only days after it withheld the accounts of the Pakistan diplomatic missions in Iran, Egypt, Turkey, and the United Nations within India. Islamabad criticised the BJP for the “diminishing space for the plurality of voices and access to info,” calling it “extremely alarming.”
These developments have initiated a debate about the importance of freedom of expression on social media platforms and the responsibility of such companies to combat fake news. To this end, Apar Gupta, a trustee of the Internet Freedom Foundation, said Twitter’s petition is “a significant development that will impact free expression for Indian social media users.”