Controversy Erupts Between Indian Government and Twitter, case Registered in Uttar Pradesh

 Controversy erupts between Indian government and Twitter, case registered in Uttar Pradesh

Controversy erupts between Indian government and Twitter, case registered in Uttar Pradesh

The controversy between the Indian government and the social networking platform Twitter has intensified. This is due to the alleged non-compliance with the rules set by Twitter. A controversial video also caused the clash.

 Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh police have registered a case against Twitter.

 The clash between the Indian government and Twitter began a few months ago when the government instructed Twitter to remove the tweets of several farmers involved in the farmers' protest movement. He removed several tweets following the government's insistence.

The government also objected to the tweets about its alleged failure to deal with the Karuna epidemic.

 Parliament's Standing Committee on Information Technology summoned Twitter officials on Friday. According to reports, he was asked tough questions in this meeting.

 According to reports, officials from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting were also invited to the meeting. The purpose was to discuss the protection of citizens' rights and the issue of alleged misuse of social media platforms.

 Allegations on Twitter:

According to media reports, in the one-and-a-half-hour meeting, three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Rajya Vardhan Rathore, Syed Zafar Islam and Nishikant Dubey questioned the alleged non-compliance with the new rules.

 Committee members told US company officials that Twitter had not yet complied with the rules, although it was not above Indian rules.  Committee members allege that Twitter relies on the advice of anti-BJP NGOs. The chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee is Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. 

The meeting was attended by Public Policy Manager Shagufta Kamran and Legal Adviser Ayushi Kapoor on behalf of Twitter. According to reports, he said that he is not the competent authority to answer questions, so a written answer will be given later.

 Twitter description:

Following the meeting, Twitter issued a statement saying it was ready to work with the government to protect the rights of citizens in accordance with the principles of transparency, freedom of expression and privacy.

 The statement also said that it would work with the Government of India on a common commitment to safeguarding public discourse.

What are these new IT rules?

According to new laws enacted by the Indian government, social media and OTT platforms will have to appoint an official to handle complaints from law enforcement agencies and legal entities. Authorize removal of controversial content.

 In addition, if the court or government wants to find out who posted a tweet, they must provide the person's information.

 Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp were given three months in February to implement it.

 The government has said that if a user violates Indian laws through his post and legal action is taken against social media, companies that comply with those laws will have legal protection. These laws came into force on May 26.

 Twitter said in a statement that it had temporarily appointed an official to hear the complaint, but that it was being delayed due to the corona virus and that details would be provided to the government.

Analysts say the lawsuit against Twitter means that the legal protections it received as a digital platform have expired because it failed to comply with the digital guidelines within the stipulated period. Free

 Allegations of the Minister of Information Technology:

Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that Twitter has violated Indian laws.

 He said in a statement that Twitter had been given several opportunities to comply with the new rules but had failed. So it has lost its legal protection.

 Ravi Shankar told ANI that the government was not in favor of banning social media platforms. With half the government, including the president and prime minister, on Twitter, this suggests that the government is neutral.

 According to him, Twitter failed to address the grievances of the users by appointing an official. Instead, it pursued a policy of "mini-polished media" (audio, video, or image that had a special focus). But even in this case, he continued to act according to his choice.

 In his opinion, Twitter tagged whoever he wanted as a mini-polite media and did not tag anyone he did not want.

 It may be recalled that a few days ago, Twitter had tagged a tweet of BJP spokesperson Sambat Patra, which caused quite a stir, as 'Mini-Politized Media', after which it raided its offices in Delhi and Gaur village. Was killed and notices were issued.

 The post of some other BJP workers was also termed as mini-polite media.

Some legal experts disagree with Ravi Shankar Prasad.

 He says the government does not have the authority to revoke the legal protections afforded to digital platforms. As for the question of whether Twitter is exempt from legal action? So it is entirely up to the judiciary. Controversial video and police action

Earlier, Ghaziabad police issued a legal notice to Twitter India on Thursday after a controversial video of an elderly Muslim man went viral in the Loni area of ​​Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district, and its officials were taken to the Loni police station within a week. Instructed to attend.

Ghaziabad police on Tuesday registered an FIR against Twitter, news website 'The Wire', journalists Mohammad Zubair and Rana Ayub and Congress spokesperson Dr Shama Mohammad, Congress leaders Salman Nizami and Mushkoor Usmani, journalist and writer Saba Naqvi. Was registered.

On Wednesday, a complaint was lodged at the Tilak Marg police station in Delhi against Bollywood actress Sora Bhaskar, Twitter's Asif Khan, The Wire-affiliated journalist Arifah Khanum Sherwani and Twitter's India chief Manish Maheshwari.

The complaint was lodged by a lawyer, Amit Acharya. However, no FIR has been registered on the complaint so far.

Police have accused Twitter and the men of trying to disrupt sectarian harmony by broadcasting a video of an elderly Muslim man.

In the video, which went viral on social media, an elderly Muslim man was beaten by some people with sticks.

The video also shows the man shaving his beard with scissors.

According to reports, the incident took place on June 5. Abdul Samad Saifi, 72, was abducted by six men.

Controversial video and police action:

Earlier, Ghaziabad police issued a legal notice to Twitter India on Thursday after a controversial video of an elderly Muslim man went viral in the Loni area of ​​Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district, and its officials were taken to the Loni police station within a week. Instructed to attend.

Ghaziabad police on Tuesday registered an FIR against Twitter, news website 'The Wire', journalists Mohammad Zubair and Rana Ayub and Congress spokesperson Dr Shama Mohammad, Congress leaders Salman Nizami and Mushkoor Usmani, journalist and writer Saba Naqvi. Was registered.

On Wednesday, a complaint was lodged at the Tilak Marg police station in Delhi against Bollywood actress Sora Bhaskar, Twitter's Asif Khan, The Wire-affiliated journalist Arifah Khanum Sherwani and Twitter's India chief Manish Maheshwari.

The complaint was lodged by a lawyer, Amit Acharya. However, no FIR has been registered on the complaint so far.

Police have accused Twitter and the men of trying to disrupt sectarian harmony by broadcasting a video of an elderly Muslim man.

In the video, which went viral on social media, an elderly Muslim man was beaten by some people with sticks.

The video also shows the man shaving his beard with scissors.

According to reports, the incident took place on June 5. Abdul Samad Saifi, 72, was abducted by six men.

The Editors Guild of India, Press Club of India, Mumbai Press Club and other journalists' organizations and media houses have condemned the filing of cases against journalists.

The Mumbai Press Club has said in a statement that reporting hateful incidents is not a hate crime. This means that if someone reports a crime, he has become a criminal.

Uma Kant Lakhira, president of the Press Club of India and a senior journalist, told VOA that the Uttar Pradesh government is facing many problems these days. Therefore, he has taken the said action under the sectarian mentality to divert the attention of the people from them.

On the actions against Twitter, he said that as long as Twitter's policy was in favor of the government, it was very good in the eyes of the government. But now that it has started airing tweets that are troubling to the government, action is being taken against it.

Wadud Sajid, secretary of the Delhi Journalists Union, told VOA that just as the government has established its control over the media, it also wants to control social media.

He also said that the first people to be prosecuted for sharing the video belonged to a particular religion. This indicates the intent of the police.

According to him, the news was broadcast by several news channels and several media outlets shared the video. But the police only cracked down on those who are critical of the Modi government's policies.

Other Causes Of Conflict

Earlier this month, Twitter removed Blue Tick from the accounts of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Singh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagat and four other senior RSS officials.

These accounts were out of the blue tick for several hours. Blue Tick is a sign that any account has been verified.

BJP leaders were outraged by Twitter's move. The vice president's office itself raised the issue.

In this case, Twitter said that if an account remains inactive or inactive for a year, then according to the law of Twitter, its Blue Tick status is removed.

Rajiv Tali, an official with the Delhi branch of the RSS, told Press Trust of India (PTI) that the move was a clear manifestation of Twitter's bias and was an example of feudalism. Is.

According to him, many more accounts are inactive but they have Blue Tick status. 

Opposition allegations:

Opposition party Congress has condemned the crackdown on Twitter, saying the Modi government wants to stifle the voices of 140 million people.

Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala told a news conference on Thursday that Twitter did not write anything on its own. These are the people of the country who are writing against the government and its policies. According to him, no journalist can write against the government today. If someone writes, he loses his job. In these circumstances, only social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are left. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the crackdown on Twitter, saying the government was trying to control social media. According to him, when the government failed to control social media platforms, it now wants to destroy them. Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-e-Muslimeen and a member of parliament, also condemned the police crackdown on Twitter, saying it took action when the government failed to control it. The government says the country's laws prevail and social media platforms must abide by them.