Centre hits back, says ‘Twitter needs to stop beating around bush & comply with laws’

Hours after Twitter expressed concerns regarding the safety of its employees and “potential threat to freedom of expression” for its users, the central government rebutted saying the statement by the social media intermediary was an attempt to dictate its terms to the world’s largest democracy.

In a statement, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said that through its actions and deliberate defiance, Twitter is seeking to undermine the country’s legal system.

Press Release by Ministry of Electronics and IT in response to the statements made by Twitter Inc. pic.twitter.com/hQxCGuoEaG

— Ministry of Electronics & IT (@GoI_MeitY) May 27, 2021

“Twitter needs to stop beating around the bush & comply with laws of the land. Lawmaking &policy formulations is the sole prerogative of the sovereign and Twitter is just a social media platform & it has no locus in dictating what should India’s legal policy framework should be,” the ministry said.

Earlier today, a Twitter spokesperson said that they have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of Twitter’s global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules. “We plan to advocate for changes to elements of these regulations that inhibit free, open public conversation,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement.

The statement by the social media intermediary comes days after the Special Cell of Delhi Police had earlier this week on Monday knocked on the doors of Twitter India’s Delhi and Gurgaon offices to allegedly serve a notice asking the company executives to join in the probe regarding the alleged “toolkit” seeking to undermine Indian government’s response to Covid-19, released on Twitter.