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Rabat – India’s IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on June 16 that Twitter failed to comply with new IT rules and deliberately chose the path of non-compliance despite being sent multiple notices by the Indian government.
Twitter lost legal protection status in India after it failed to comply with new IT rules which required it to appoint key officers in India. The micro-blogging platform was also targeted with criminal allegations by Uttar Pradesh police (along with journalists and three Congress leaders) in connection with the assault of a Muslim man, a video of which spread across the social media platform.
“The simple fact of the matter is that Twitter has failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines that came into effect from the 26th of May,” said the Union IT & Law minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad. “The culture of India varies like its large geography. In certain scenarios with the amplification of social media, even a small spark can cause a fire, especially with the menace of fake news.”
On the Uttar Pradesh incident, Prasad said it was illustrative of Twitter’s arbitrariness in fighting fake news. “While Twitter has been over-enthusiastic about its fact-checking mechanism, its failure to act in multiple cases like UP is perplexing and indicates its inconsistency in fighting misinformation,” Prasad said.
Uttar Pradesh Police has registered a case against Twitter, several Congress politicians and journalists for “inciting communal tensions” after an elderly Muslim man claimed in a viral video that his beard was cut off while being forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” – a symbolic Hindu expression translating to “Glory to Lord Ram”. However the police have ruled out any “communal angle” labelling it ‘fake news’.
Taking a dig at Twitter, Prasad said “It is astounding that Twitter which portrays itself as the flag bearer of free speech chooses the path of deliberate defiance when it comes to the Intermediary Guidelines.”
Maintaining that the law of the land doesn’t discriminate, the Union Minister said, “Indian companies be it pharma, IT or others that go to do business in the USA or in other foreign countries, voluntarily follow the local laws. Then why are platforms like Twitter showing reluctance in following Indian laws designed to give voice to the victims of abuse and misuse?”
Meanwhile, Cyber Security Expert, Yasir Zargar said “Only courts can decide on the intermediary status of social media platforms and Twitter cannot be held liable for the content shared by its users.”
New Delhi based organization, The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) said in a statement that “The new IT Rules, as per several digital rights organizations, are unconstitutional. In fact, they have been challenged in several state High Courts.”
What Is Legal Protection Status?
The new IT rules came into force on May 26, regulating content on social media networks like Facebook, WhatsApp messenger and Twitter, and will make these platforms more accountable to legal requests for the removal of posts, sharing details about the users and origin of the content and withholding user accounts.
The legal protection or intermediary status gives social media platforms immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them. Failing to adhere to the new IT rules, Twitter would not enjoy legal protection as an intermediary and will be liable like a publisher for objectionable content under new information technology rules and regulations.
The Rise of Home-grown Social Networking Sites
Indian government had asked prominent social media intermediaries to appoint Indian residents as a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.
Koo – Indian micro-blogging site – met compliance requirements ahead of the prescribed date of 25 May, and has over six million downloads. The Indian platform has widely benefited from the tussle between the Indian government and American tech giant,Twitter.
Koo has launched its application in over 20 regional languages to attract more users across India, while Twitter holds a 17.5 million user base in India.
