Indian government has reportedly revoked Twitter’s shield
against prosecution for illegal user content, saying the platform failed to
comply with new regulations as police filed their first case against the site
over a violent video.
The statement is the first time Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s administration has officially said the micro-blogging giant has lost its
immunity.
This was after the government repeatedly criticised Twitter
for non-compliance.
The dispute and the public spat has raised concern that
American firms will find it difficult to do business amid a more stringent
regulatory environment.
India’s IT ministry told the High Court in New Delhi that
Twitter’s non-compliance amounted to a breach of the provisions of the IT Act,
causing the U.S. firm to lose its immunity, according to the filing dated July
5.
The filing came in a case filed by a Twitter user who wanted
to complain about some allegedly defamatory tweets on the platform, and said
the company was not complying with the new law that requires appointment of
certain new executives.
Twitter declined to comment. The company has previously said
it was making all efforts to comply.
India’s new IT rules which became effective end-May are
aimed at regulating content on social media firms and making them more
accountable to legal requests for swift removal of posts and sharing details on
the originators of messages.
Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has slammed Twitter
for deliberately defying the law and said all social media firms must abide by
the new rules.
In recent weeks, as acrimony grew between New Delhi and
Twitter, Indian police have filed at least five cases against the company or
its officials, including some related to child pornography and a controversial
map of India on its career page. read more
Police in two Indian states have named Twitter India chief
Manish Maheshwari in complaints.
Separately, the state of Uttar Pradesh has challenged in the
Supreme Court a bar on police action against Maheshwari, after a lower court
protected him against arrest over an accusation that the platform was used to
spread hate.