‘You are just a private,for-profit company, don’t try to dictate India’s legal policy:GOI to Twitter

The government of India has come up with a strongly worded rebuttal to Twitter’s misleading and obfuscating statements to media today regarding Indian law and its so-called policies. The govt has stated that “protecting free speech in India” is the responsibility of the Indian government and not the prerogative of a private, for-profit, foreign entity like Twitter.

Calling Twitter’s statement ‘an attempt to dictate its terms to the world’s largest democracy, the Union ministry fo Electronics and IT stated that through its actions and deliberate defiance, Twitter is seeking to undermine India’s legal system. The ministry stated that Twitter is refusing to comply with the very regulations in the intermediary guidelines on the basis of which it is claiming a safe harbour protection from any criminal liability in India.

If Twitter is so committed, why it did not set up such a mechanism in India on its own?, the ministry asked, while stating that Twitter India representatives routinely try to evade responsibility by claiming they have no authority and the people of India will have to reach out to Twitter headquarters in the USA. It called Twitter’s claims of ‘commitment to India’ as hollow and self-serving.

The ministry’s statement further added that despite earning a large revenue from India, Twitter doesn’t want to appoint an India-based grievance redressal system.

Read More at https://www.opindia.com/2021/05/twitter-big-tech-indian-govt-law-it-ministry-modi-social-media-free-speech