News Analysis India

Tag: Twitter

  • Rule of land is supreme, not your policy, Twitter told by Parliamentary panel on IT

    By Online Desk
    Twitter India officials on Friday deposed before a parliamentary panel chaired by Shashi Tharoor of the Congress on preventing the misuse of social media.

    The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology, chaired by Tharoor, had last week summoned Twitter over issues related to misuse of the platform and protection of citizens’ rights.

    Twitter India’s public policy manager Shagufta Kamran and legal counsel Ayushi Kapoor deposed before the panel on Friday.

    Coming against the backdrop of the faceoff between the Union government and the microblogging platform, the panel told the Twitter officials that the rule of land is supreme and not its policy, reported PTI.

    According to sources, members of the panel have asked Twitter why it should not be fined for ‘violating’ the rule of the land.

    Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday sent a legal notice to the Managing Director of Twitter India Manish Maheshwari regarding the viral video of the assault on an elderly man in Loni. The MD has been asked to record his statement after the microblogging site “let the anti-social messages go viral”.

    This is the second time the Twitter MD has been called for an inquiry in the last 20 days.

    The police reportedly had also questioned Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari on May 31 and visited the Twitter India offices in Delhi and Gurgaon on May 24 over the toolkit issue.

    Recently, Twitter also lost its legal indemnity over its failure to comply with the new IT norms. 

    (Further details awaited)

  • Twitter India representatives depose before parliamentary panel over preventing social media misuse

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Amid a tussle between the Union government and Twitter over the new IT rules, officials of the microblogging site on Friday deposed before a parliamentary panel chaired by Congress’ Shashi Tharoor over preventing misuse of social media.

    Earlier this month, the Centre issued a notice to Twitter giving it one last chance to “immediately” comply with the new IT rules and warned that failure to adhere to the norms will lead to the platform losing exemption from liability under the IT Act.

    The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology, chaired by Tharoor, had last week summoned Twitter over issues related to misuse of the platform and protection of citizens’ rights.

    ALSO READ: UP Police send legal notice to Twitter India MD over Ghaziabad assault video

    Twitter India’s public policy manager Shagufta Kamran and legal counsel Ayushi Kapoor deposed before the panel on Friday.

    Twitter and the Centre have been at loggerheads over several issues for the last few months.

    The microblogging site had faced backlash when it briefly removed the ‘blue tick’ verification badge from the personal account of Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and of several senior RSS functionaries, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat.

    Earlier, Delhi Police had sent a notice to Twitter, seeking an explanation of how it described an alleged “Congress toolkit” against the Central government as manipulated media.

    The police reportedly had also questioned Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari on May 31 and visited the Twitter India offices in Delhi and Gurgaon on May 24 over the toolkit issue.

  • UP Police send legal notice to Twitter India MD over Ghaziabad assault video

    By ANI
    GHAZIABAD: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday sent a legal notice to the Managing Director of Twitter India Manish Maheshwari regarding the viral video of the assault on an elderly man in Loni. The MD has been asked to record his statement after the microblogging site “let the anti-social messages go viral”.

    According to the legal notice, the managing director has been asked to come to the Police Station Loni Border and record the statement over the matter within seven days.

    “Some people used their Twitter handle as a tool to spread hatred in the society and Twitter Communication India and Twitter Inc did not take any action against it. They let the anti-social messages go viral,” the notice sent to the managing director read.

    ALSO READ | SP worker booked over ‘communal’ video, FIR says Facebook didn’t fact-check clip

    This comes after Twitter lost its status as an intermediary platform in India as it does not comply with new IT rules. According to the sources, Twitter is the only social media platform among the mainstream that has not adhered to the new laws.

    Now, instead of being considered just a platform hosting content from various users, Twitter will be held directly editorially responsible for posts published on its platform.

    The implication of this development is that if there is any charge against Twitter for alleged unlawful content it would be treated as a publisher – not an intermediary – and be liable for punishment under any law, including IT Act, as also the penal laws of the country, sources stated.

    Earlier, a senior-level team of Delhi Police’s Special Cell questioned the Twitter India managing director Manish Maheshwari at Bengaluru over the ‘Congress toolkit case’ matter on May 31.

    The Delhi Police had earlier sent a notice to Twitter, seeking an explanation from the microblogging platform to explain the rationale and share all the information on how it described the toolkit as manipulated media.

    The police had also visited the Twitter India offices in Lado Sarai, Delhi and Gurgaon on May 24 with the notice over the tagging some of the posts on an alleged Congress “toolkit” against the Central government, as “manipulated media”.

    The Uttar Pradesh Police had confirmed that there is no communal angle in the incident in Loni and arrested five accused of assaulting the 72-year-old man. The police also stated that action would also be taken against the complainant for providing wrong facts.

    The UP Police on Tuesday filed FIR against nine entities, including Twitter India in connection with the Loni incident.

    In the FIR, the Police had said, “There is no communal angle to the incident in Loni where a man was thrashed and his beard was chopped off. The following entities — The Wire, Rana Ayyub, Mohammad Zubair, Dr Shama Mohammed, Saba Naqvi, Maskoor Usmani, Salman Nizami — without checking the fact, started giving communal colour to the incident on Twitter and suddenly they started spreading messages to disrupt the peace and bring differences between the religious communities.”

  • UP Police sends legal notice to Twitter India MD over Ghaziabad assault video incident

    By ANI
    GHAZIABAD: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday sent a legal notice to the Managing Director of Twitter India Manish Maheshwari regarding the viral video of the assault on an elderly man in Loni. The MD has been asked to record his statement after the microblogging site “let the anti-social messages go viral”.

    According to the legal notice, the managing director has been asked to come to the Police Station Loni Border and record the statement over the matter within seven days.

    “Some people used their Twitter handle as a tool to spread hatred in the society and Twitter Communication India and Twitter Inc did not take any action against it. They let the anti-social messages go viral,” the notice sent to the managing director read.

    ALSO READ | SP worker booked over ‘communal’ video, FIR says Facebook didn’t fact-check clip

    This comes after when Twitter has lost its status as an intermediary platform in India as it does not comply with new IT rules. According to the sources, Twitter is the only social media platform among the mainstream that has not adhered to the new laws.

    Now, instead of being considered just a platform hosting content from various users, Twitter will be held directly editorially responsible for posts published on its platform.

    The implication of this development is that if there is any charge against Twitter for alleged unlawful content it would be treated as a publisher – not an intermediary – and be liable for punishment under any law, including IT Act, as also the penal laws of the country, sources stated.

    Earlier, a senior-level team of Delhi Police’s Special Cell questioned the Twitter India managing director Manish Maheshwari at Bengaluru over the ‘Congress toolkit case’ matter on May 31.

    The Delhi Police had earlier sent a notice to Twitter, seeking an explanation from the microblogging platform to explain the rationale and share all the information on how it described the toolkit as manipulated media.

    The police had also visited the Twitter India offices in Lado Sarai, Delhi and Gurgaon on May 24 with the notice over the tagging some of the posts on an alleged Congress “toolkit” against the Central government, as “manipulated media”.

    The Uttar Pradesh Police had confirmed that there is no communal angle in the incident in Loni and arrested five accused of assaulting the 72-year-old man. The police also stated that action would also be taken against the complainant for providing wrong facts.

    The UP Police on Tuesday filed FIR against nine entities, including Twitter India in connection with the Loni incident.

    In the FIR, the Police had said, “There is no communal angle to the incident in Loni where a man was thrashed and his beard was chopped off. The following entities — The Wire, Rana Ayyub, Mohammad Zubair, Dr Shama Mohammed, Saba Naqvi, Maskoor Usmani, Salman Nizami — without checking the fact, started giving communal colour to the incident on Twitter and suddenly they started spreading messages to disrupt the peace and bring differences between the religious communities.”

  • Twitter row: Congress says PM Modi wants to suppress voice of 140 crore Indians

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to suppress the voice of 140 crore Indians and does not want them to say anything against him and his government.

    Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the action against Twitter and other social media platforms is only aimed at suppressing the freedom of their speech and expression.

    He said this in the context of the government initiating action against Twitter.

    The government has asked Twitter to comply with intermediary guidelines and said it has lost its “safe harbour” protection in India over non-compliance with IT rules and failure to appoint key personnel mandated under the new guidelines.

    IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said Twitter failed to comply with intermediary guidelines and has “deliberately” chosen the path of non-compliance despite being granted multiple opportunities.

    Surjewala said Twitter does not write anything of its own, it is the people of the country who write against this government and its policies.

    “Prime Minister Modi wants to suppress the voice of 140 crore Indians. It is the fight for the freedom of speech. Today, journalists in the country cannot write against this government, else they will lose their job or life.

    In such a situation, only YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, social platforms are left and Modi ji himself is the creation of such platforms,” he told reporters.

    “Twitter does not write anything of its own. It is the people of India — the youth, the Dalits, the farmers, the poor — who write against the government and criticise Modi ji, then they have problems. Now, they want to lock down every social media platform as well and this is their intention,” the Congress leader said.

  • FIR filed against journalists for sharing video of Muslim man be withdraw immediately: Editors Guild

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Friday demanded that the FIR lodged by the Uttar Pradesh Police against a news portal and some journalists for circulating a video clip of an elderly Muslim man on social media be withdrawn immediately.

    It said “this wanton use of the law” to criminalise reporting and dissent to harass independent media was condemnable.

    “The EGI condemns the filing of the FIRs by the Uttar Pradesh government against The Wire and several journalists, for their tweets on an assault on an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad on June 5,” the EGI said in a statement.

    It demanded that the FIRs be withdrawn immediately.

    The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday had filed a first information report (FIR) against Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India, news portal The Wire, scribes Mohammad Zubair and Rana Ayyub and senior journalist and author Saba Naqvi as well as Congress leaders Salman Nizami, Masqoor Usmani and Sama Mohammad for sharing on social media a video clip in which an elderly Muslim says he was thrashed by some people and forced to chant “Jai Sri Ram”.

    “Several media organisations and journalists, besides the ones charged by the police, posted this video on their social media feeds,” the Guild said.

    Subsequently, there was “an alternative version” offered by the Uttar Pradesh Police claiming that the assault was borne out of a dispute regarding a ‘talisman’ that the elderly man had sold to some people, which was also reported by these media organisations and journalists, it added.

    ALSO READ| Ghaziabad assault case: Delhi Police receives complaint against Swara Bhaskar, Twitter India MD

    “The Guild is deeply concerned by the UP police’s track record of filing FIRs against journalists to deter them from reporting serious incidents without fear of reprisals,” the EGI said.

    The Guild said it is the duty of the journalists to report on the basis of the sources and in case the facts become contested, later on, to report the emerging versions and facets.

    For the police to wade into such professional calls by the journalists and attribute criminality to their actions is destructive of freedom of speech, which is constitutionally protected and is an entrenched feature of the rule of law, the EGI said.

    “Further it is quite evident that the police have been discriminatory in targeting those media organisations and the journalists — when thousands had tweeted the video — that has been critical of the government and its policies,” it added.

  • CM Mamata Banerjee condemns attack on Twitter, says govt trying to control everyone they can’t manage

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the BJP-led union government over its “efforts to control” Twitter and claimed that the Centre, having failed to influence the microblogging platform, is now trying to bulldoze it.

    Drawing a parallel, Banerjee said her government, too, was being meted out the same treatment by the Centre.

    “I condemn it; they can’t control Twitter, so they are trying to bulldoze it. They (Centre) are trying to do so with everyone they are unable to manage. They can’t control me, and that is why they are trying to bulldoze my government, too,” Banerjee said while talking to reporters here.

    The networking platform has lost its ‘safe harbour’ shield in India over non-compliance to IT rules and failure to appoint key personnel mandated under new guidelines.

    It will now be liable for action under the Indian Penal Code for third party unlawful content.

    Making light of BJP’s allegations of continued political violence in the state, the chief minister said it was a saffron party “gimmick” and the claims made were completely “baseless”.

    “There is no political violence going on in the state right now. There may have been one or two sporadic incidents, but those can’t be labelled as incidents of political violence,” she added.

  • Ghaziabad case: SP worker booked over ‘communal’ video, FIR says Facebook didn’t fact-check clip

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad Police has booked a Samajwadi Party worker here over a “communal video” of an elderly Muslim man alleging attack by some young men, with the FIR also mentioning that Facebook let the “misleading” clip circulate without making efforts to verify it.

    The FIR, however, does not mention Facebook as an accused in the case in which opposition Samajwadi Party’s worker Ummaid Pehelwan Idrisi has been charged with promoting enmity and breach of peace by circulating the video on social media and giving it a “communal colour”.

    On his Facebook account, Idrisi identifies himself as a Samajwadi Party worker and has posted purported pictures of him with party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

    Requesting anonymity, an SP office-bearer confirmed that Idrisi was a member of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) board during the SP government, and is still a party worker.

    The case was lodged at the Loni Border police station Wednesday evening, a day after the Ghaziabad police booked Twitter, a news website, some journalists and opposition Congress politicians, in a separate FIR over circulation of the video.

    Filed on the complaint of a local policeman, the FIR states that Idrisi had “unnecessarily” made the video — in which Abdul Shamad Saifi narrates his ordeal — with an intention to “create social disharmony” and shared it on his Facebook account.

    “He shared on his social media account the video which had religious context to it without verifying the truth of the matter. It gave the incident a communal colour and was an attempt at disrupting social harmony,” stated the FIR, which has been seen by PTI.

    The FIR has been lodged under sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups on ground of religion, class etc), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (public mischief).

    Idrisi has also been booked under provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, according to the FIR.

    The FIR, lodged only against Idrisi, mentions that social media giant Facebook “also did not make any efforts to fact-check this entire episode and let the misleading video circulate”.

    Five accused — Kalloo Gurjar, Parvesh Gurjar, Adil, Intezaar and Saddam alias Bauna — have been arrested so far in connection with the attack on Saifi, Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad Rural) Iraj Raja said on Wednesday.

    The Ghaziabad police maintained that the incident took place because the accused were unhappy over the ‘tabeez’ (amulets) sold to them by Saifi.

    The police also ruled out any communal angle in the episode.

    In the video that triggered nation-wide reaction, Saifi purportedly says he was attacked by some young men and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ even as the district police said he did not make any such allegation in the FIR.

    This FIR about the assault and illegal confinement was lodged on June 7, two days after the incident, on the complaint of Saifi, a resident of Anoopshahar in adjoining Bulandshahr district.

  • Twitter, Rana Ayyub among nine booked by UP Police over Ghaziabad viral video

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: Police here have booked Twitter, a news portal and six people for circulating a video in which an elderly Muslim man says he was thrashed and asked to chant “Jai Shri Ram”.

    Police claimed that it was done to create communal unrest.

    The FIR names Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India, news website The Wire, journalists Mohammed Zubair and Rana Ayyub, Congress leaders Dr Sama Mohammad, Salman Nizami, Masqoor Usmani and writer Saba Naqvi.

    “These people did not verify the truth of the matter and shared it online with a communal angle with an intention to disrupt public peace and create a divide between religious groups,” the FIR states.

    The FIR was lodged at the Loni Border police station in Ghaziabad around 11.30 pm on Tuesday on the basis of a complaint lodged by a local policeman.

    The police action came within hours of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath exchanging remarks on Twitter over the incident.

    Meanwhile, the Press Club of India (PCI) also took note of the police action and demanded that the FIR naming the journalists should be quashed because it shows “vendetta” of the Ghaziabad police to create a “sense of terror” in the media and society at large.

    “The PCI appeals to the government of UP to intervene in the matter at the earliest to ensure that journalists are not made easy targets of police high handedness by filing FIR against them,” it said in a statement.

    In a video clip, which surfaced on social media on June 14, the elderly Muslim man, Abdul Shamad Saifi, is heard saying he was thrashed by some young men and asked to chant “Jai Shri Ram”.

    However, the Ghaziabad police has ruled out a communal angle.

    It said the accused were unhappy about a “tabeez” (amulet) he sold to them.

    Ghaziabad (Rural) Superintendent of Police Iras Raja said on Wednesday that three people — Kalloo Gurjar, Parvesh Gurjar and Adil — have been arrested for assaulting Saifi.

    Police are also looking for others involved in the case including those identified as Polly, Himanshu, Arif and Murshid, he said.

    The FIR states that the Ghaziabad police had issued a clarification statement with facts of the incident but despite that the accused did not remove the video from their Twitter handles.

    The police had also clarified that those who attacked Saifi included Hindu as well as Muslim men and the incident was a result of personal issues between them and not communal, it said.

    “Besides, Twitter Inc and Twitter Communications India did not take any measures to remove their tweets,” it added.

    The FIR has been lodged under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between groups on ground of religion, class etc), 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

    Earlier on Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said, “I am not willing to accept that true devotees of Lord Ram can do such a thing.”

    “Such cruelty is far removed from humanity and is shameful for both society and religion,” the former Congress chief had tweeted in Hindi tagging a news report on the Ghaziabad incident.

    Sharing a screenshot of Gandhi’s tweet, Adityanath had said, “The first teaching of Lord Ram is speak the truth, which you have never done in your life.”

    “You should be ashamed that even after the police telling the truth you are spreading poison in society. In the greed of power, (you) are shaming humanity. Stop humiliating and defaming the people of Uttar Pradesh,” the chief minister had said in a tweet in Hindi.

  • Parliamentary panel summons Twitter officials to give representation on prevention of misuse on June 18

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Days after the Centre issued a notice to Twitter, a parliamentary panel headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has summoned top officials of the micro blogging site to depose before it on Friday and give a representation on prevention of misuse of the social media platform.

    The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology has summoned several social media giants, including Facebook and Twitter, on issues related to misuse of the platforms and protection of citizens’ rights.

    According to a notice of the standing committee meeting on June 18, its agenda is to “hear the views of representatives of Twitter followed by evidence of representatives Electronics Technology on safeguarding citizens’ rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space.”

    The meeting notice was issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

    Earlier this month, the central government had issued “one last notice” to Twitter asking it to comply with the new Information Technology rules.

    Twitter and the Centre are at loggerheads on several issues for the last few months.

    Twitter had faced backlash, when it had briefly removed the ‘blue tick’ verification badge from the personal account of Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and of several senior RSS functionaries including its chief Mohan Bhagwat.