News Analysis India

Tag: Twitter

  • If you invoke US copyright act, then be cognisant of Indian laws as well: Prasad on Twitter row

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Calling for accountability of big social media companies, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said Twitter invoked a US copyright act to block his account but it should also be cognisant of the law in India where it is operating and earning money.

    Speaking at the India Global Forum, the minister said Twitter last week blocked his account for an hour on a complaint made four years ago under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the US.

    “If you are going to invoke the digital copyright act of America then you have to also be cognisant of the copyright rules of India. That is the point.

    ALSO READ | Parliamentary panel seeks Twitter’s reply on locking accounts of Prasad, Tharoor within two days

    “You cannot say my whole stand will be regulated by an ex-parte assessment of the US law. For a happy blending of the role of big tech and democracy, a solution has to be found,” Prasad said.

    He said social media companies are free to do business in India but they have to be accountable to the Indian Constitution and laws.

    Micro-blogging platform Twitter has been at loggerheads with the government over various issues, including during the farmers’ protest in January and later when it tagged political posts of several leaders of the ruling party BJP as “manipulated media”, drawing a sharp rebuke from the Centre.

    Twitter has still not complied with the new IT rules for social media companies.

    The rules mandate social media companies to establish a grievance redressal mechanism for resolving complaints from the users or victims.

    All significant social media companies, with over 50 lakh user base, will have to appoint a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person and a grievance officer.

    All of them have to be resident in India.

    Prasad further said the issue of social media in India is around abuse of the rights of victims on those platforms and the companies’ accountability.

    “If democracy has to survive misinformation, fake news, colluded material. All these are challenges. I am not in favour of censoring but democracies have to find a common ground as far as these issues are concerned so that these big tech companies do their business, earn good money, good profit but become accountable. This can only happen if you follow law of the land,” Prasad said.

  • For wrong India map and child porn content: Spate of FIRs filed against Twitter

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW/BHOPAL: Even as Twitter is in the government’s crosshairs over new IT rules, trouble is mounting for the company and its senior officials in India. Multiple cases have been registered against them over a distorted map of the country and child pornographic contents.

    Acting upon a complaint from National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Delhi Police’s Cyber Cell on Tuesday registered an FIR against Twitter India for allegedly allowing access to child pornography in the form of various links and accounts. The microblogging site has been booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and IT Act, said Delhi Police.

    FIRs have also been registered against Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari and other senior officials in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh over a wrong map of India put up on the microblogging website.

    The first case was registered on Monday night against Maheshwari and Twitter India’s news partnership head Amrita Tripathi in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh on a complaint by a local Bajrang Dal leader, Praveen Bhati. The two senior officials were booked under Section 505(2) of IPC (statements conducing to public mischief) and Section 74 of IT Act, which deals with publication for fraudulent purpose.

    A world map showing J&K and Ladakh detached from India emerged on the career section of the social media giant’s website on Monday. Twitter removed it as it sparked outrage. On Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh Police’s Cyber Cell registered a case against the Twitter India MD and others in Bhopal. The FIR was registered under Section 505(2) of IPC by social activist and BJP leader Durgesh Keswani. “If it’s found that the alleged crime invites IT Act sections, its provisions will be added,” a police official said.

    UP moves SC for arrest of Twitter MD

    The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Karnataka High Court order granting protection from arrest to Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari in connection with the Ghaziabad assault video case. Maheshwari has also filed a caveat, seeking an opportunity to present his case before the top court passes any order. Ghaziabad police had issued a notice to Maheshwari, asking him to appear at the Loni police station for questioning in the investigation.

  • Parliamentary panel instructs Facebook and Google to follow new I-T rules

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Parliamentary standing committee on Information and Technology on Tuesday asked Google and Facebook to follow the Indian laws, while telling their representatives that the security of citizens is priority.

    After summoning the representatives of Twitter, the committee headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor called Facebook and Google for a session, which turned out to be a briefing meeting, with the members patiently hearing the technological aspects of the two tech giants.

    The panel secretariat will also be writing to Twitter for explanations about the basis on which the accounts of Tharoor and Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad were suspended. Prasad’s account was suspended for an hour purportedly on account of the copyright violations.

    “Google gave statistical report about actions taken against contents which violate its policies, including removing and deleting videos and comments on its YouTube platform,” sources said. The panel told the two social media giants they have to conform to Indian rules. The panel grilled the representatives of the two about “end to end encryption and origin of contents”.

    “Unlike the previous meeting with the Twitter representative, which was much heated, Tuesday’s session was more focused, with the members showing interests in understanding the technical aspects,” sources added.

  • Parliamentary panel seeks Twitter’s reply on locking accounts of Prasad, Tharoor within two days

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel has sought Twitter’s response on the recent locking of the accounts of Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, sources said on Tuesday.

    The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology has sent a letter to Twitter seeking its response within two days, sources said.

    The panel was instructed by its chairman Tharoor to seek reply from Twitter on the blocking of accounts of Prasad and others on its platform, sources said.

    Last week, Twitter had blocked Union Information and Technology Minister Prasad from accessing his account which ratcheted up tensions with the government as it came under renewed attack for not following local laws.

    ALSO READ | Madhya Pradesh government to take legal action against Twitter over distorted India map

    Twitter denied Prasad access to his account ‘@rsprasad’ for almost an hour on the grounds that he violated the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but the minister said the microblogging platform violated new IT rules that require intermediary or a host of user content to give prior notice before locking access.

    The IT Minister called out Twitter over the brazen arbitrariness and running its “own agenda”.

    Soon after Prasad flagged the issue, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted that he too had faced something similar.

    “Raviji, the same thing just happened to me. Clearly DMCA is getting hyperactive.

    This tweet has been deleted by @Twitter because its video includes the copyrighted BoneyM song ‘Rasputin’,” Tharoor tweeted.

    Tharoor further said: “As Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, I can state that we will be seeking an explanation from @TwitterIndia for the locking of @rsprasad’s & my accounts & the rules & procedures they follow while operating in India”.

    Prasad lashed out at Twitter, and in a series of posts on rival social media platform Koo said it was apparent that his statements calling out the “high handedness and arbitrary actions” of Twitter, had ruffled feathers.

  • Cases registered against Twitter India MD, others in UP and MP over incorrect India map

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW/BHOPAL: Cases have been lodged against senior officials of Twitter India in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh for putting up an incorrect map of India on the social media major’s website.

    While the first case was registered late on Monday night against Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari and its news partnership head Amrita Tripathi at Khurja Kotwali in West UP’s Bulandshahr district, the second case was registered against Maheshwari and aides at the MP State Police’s Cyber Cell headquarters in Bhopal on Tuesday evening.

    In UP, the case was registered against Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari and its news partnership head Amrita Tripathi on the complaint of a local Bajrang Dal leader Praveen Bhati.

    The two Twitter India senior officials were booked under Section 505(2) IPC (statements conducing to public mischief) and Section 74 of the Information Technology (Amendments) Act 2008 which deals with publication for fraudulent purpose, a senior Bulandshahr district police officer confirmed to The New Indian Express on Tuesday.

    ALSO READ: Parliamentary panel seeks Twitter’s reply within two days on locking of accounts of Prasad, Tharoor

    There was an uproar after a world map showing J&K and Ladakh detached from India emerged on the Career section of the social media major’s website on Monday. Twitter had later removed the concerned map from its website following the controversy.

    “The map doesn’t show J&K and Ladakh as part of India, which isn’t coincidental, but has been deliberately done to hurt the sentiments of all Indians, including me,” the complainant Bajrang Dal West UP convener Praveen Bhati alleged in the complaint.

    This the second case registered by the UP Police against the Twitter India top brass within a month in West UP.

    Earlier, on June 15, an FIR was registered by the Ghaziabad Police against micro-blogging site Twitter and seven others, including three journalists Muhmad Zubair, Rana Ayyub and Saba Naqvi and a leading news portal, for posting over social media “unverified facts” about the recent thrashing of an elderly man in the West UP district’s Loni Road area.  

    Around 20 hours after an FIR was lodged against the two senior officials of Twitter India in the West UP district, the MP State Police Cyber Cell headquarters in Bhopal too lodged an FIR against Maheshwari and his aides under Section 505(2) of the IPC on the complaint of social activist and BJP leader Durgesh Keswani.

    However, the MP State Police Cyber Cell didn’t invoke Section 74 of the IT Act against Maheshwari. “Right now the IT Act sections don’t apply in the matter, but if during the course of investigations it’s found that the alleged crime invites IT Act sections also, its provisions will be suitably added,” a state Police Cyber Cell cop said.

    The action by the MP police came just a few hours after the state’s home minister Narottam Mishra said that the state government has decided to initiate legal action against Twitter for putting up a distorted map of India and other such activities.

    “Something or other has been going on continuously against the country for a long time. Sometimes unrestrained words are spoken against Bharat Mata and sometimes a wrong map of the country is displayed on Twitter. These issues cannot be taken lightly. The governments at the Centre and the state have taken it seriously,” Mishra said in a statement posted on Twitter.

    In another tweet, Mishra said he has directed the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) Vivek Johri to investigate the matter and take legal action in this direction.

  • Twitter vs Uttar Pradesh police: Karnataka HC adjourns proceedings

    By PTI
    BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday adjourned to July 5, the proceedings in a matter pertaining to Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari and the Ghaziabad police, which had summoned him in a probe related to the assault of an elderly Muslim man in the UP town recently.

    Advocate P Prasanna Kumar, who appeared for the Uttar Pradesh police, sought adjournment following which the single bench of Justice G Narendar who is hearing the matter posted it for July 5.

    Maheshwari, who lives in Bengaluru in Karnataka, was issued notice by the Ghaziabad Police earlier, asking him to report at its Loni Border police station on June 24 to get his statement recorded in the case, following which he moved the High Court here seeking relief.

    The court had then restrained the Ghaziabad police from initiating any coercive action against him. Justice Narendar had also maintained if the police wanted to examine Maheswhari, they could do so through virtual mode.

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

    The Ghaziabad Police had on June 15 lodged an FIR against Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India, news website The Wire, journalists Mohammad Zubair and Rana Ayyub, Congress’ Salman Nizami, Masqoor Usmani, Dr Sama Mohammad and writer Saba Naqvi for sharing the clip.

    The police, who had ruled out communal angle in the incident, claimed the video was shared to cause communal unrest.

  • Madhya Pradesh government to take legal action against Twitter over distorted India map

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to initiate legal action against Twitter for putting up a distorted map of India and other such activities, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Tuesday.

    The map, which showed the Union Territories of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir outside India, was noticed on Monday, leading to an uproar by netizens. Twitter had removed that map on Monday evening. “Something or other has been going on continuously against the country for a long time. Sometimes unrestrained words are spoken against Bharat Mata and sometimes a wrong map of the country is displayed on Twitter. These issues cannot be taken lightly. The governments at the Centre and the state have taken it seriously,” Mishra said in a statement posted on Twitter.

    मैंने @DGP_MP श्री विवेक जौहरी जी को इस मामले की जांच कर कानूनी कार्रवाई के निर्देश दिए हैं।2/2@PrakashJavdekar
    — Dr Narottam Mishra (@drnarottammisra) June 29, 2021

    In another tweet, Mishra said he has directed the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) Vivek Johri to investigate the matter and take legal action in this direction. Mishra said such incidents of speaking against or doing something against ‘Bharat Mata’ (Mother India) are on the rise.

    The map’s glaring distortion, which appeared on the career section of the Twitter website under the header ‘Tweep Life’, had triggered a heavy backlash from netizens on Monday as they demanded strict action against the microblogging platform that has flouted various rules on multiple occasions in the past.

    Earlier, Twitter had shown Leh as part of China.

  • Twitter removes distorted map displaying Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh outside India after drawing flak

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: After drawing flak over displaying a distorted map of India that showed Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as a separate country, Twitter has now removed the wrong map.

    The glaring distortion, which appeared on the career section of Twitter website under the header ‘Tweep Life’, had triggered a heavy backlash from netizens on Monday as they demanded strict action against the microblogging platform that has flouted various rules on multiple occasions in the past.

    #TwitterBan was trending on Twitter with almost 17,000 tweets. This is not the first time that Twitter has misrepresented India’s map. Earlier, it had shown Leh as part of China.

    The global map, which grossly misrepresented India’s boundaries, was removed on late Monday evening by Twitter following social media outrage.

    Sources said the government is seriously looking into the matter.

    In this case, since the wrong depiction is on Twitter’s website, the case is not that of an ‘intermediary’ but of a publisher which is responsible for content.

    ALSO READ | Twitter appoints US-based Jeremy Kessel as new grievance officer for India

    When something is clearly wrong it has to be tackled, or consequential action will follow, they said.

    Twitter — which has an estimated 1.75 crore users in India — has remained mum on the entire episode.

    Emails sent to the company did not elicit any response.

    The US digital giant has been at loggerheads with the Indian government over the new social media rules.

    The government has confronted Twitter over deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the country’s new IT rules, despite repeated reminders.

    Notably, the microblogging platform has lost its legal shield as an intermediary in India, becoming liable for users posting any unlawful content.

    In October last year, Twitter came under heavy criticism and faced backlash after its geotagging feature displayed “Jammu & Kashmir, People’s Republic of China” in a live broadcast from Leh’s Hall of Fame, a war memorial for fallen soldiers in the Union Territory of Ladakh.

    India had issued a stern warning to Twitter that time, making it clear that any disrespect of the country’s sovereignty and integrity is totally unacceptable.

    In November, Twitter again showed Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir instead of the Union Territory of Ladakh, following which the Centre issued a notice to the US-based company for disrespecting the territorial integrity of India by showing an incorrect map.

    Twitter’s apparent heavy-handedness has come under government scrutiny, given that the platform has not complied with the new IT rules, called intermediary guidelines, that mandate setting up a robust grievance redressal mechanism and appointing officers to coordinate with law enforcement.

    The rules became effective from May 26 and Twitter, even after the expiry of the additional time, had not appointed the requisite officers, leading to it losing the ‘safe harbour’ immunity.

    Even in the backdrop of heightened strained relations with the Indian government, Twitter on Friday briefly blocked IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from accessing his account over alleged violation of US copyright law — a move that was immediately slammed by the minister as being arbitrary and in gross violation of IT rules.

    Meanwhile, Twitter’s interim grievance officer for India, Dharmendra Chatur, has quit within weeks of taking over the key role.

    California-based Jeremy Kessel has now been named as India’s grievance redressal officer on the platform’s website — although the appointment does not meet the requirements of new IT rules that clearly mandate key officers including the grievance officer, to be resident in India.

    Twitter and the government have been on a collision course on multiple issues in the past months, including during the farmers’ protest and later when the microblogging platform tagged political posts of several leaders of the ruling party BJP as “manipulated media”, drawing a sharp rebuke from the Centre.

    Other major flashpoints included rampant proliferation of fake and harmful content against India and the platform’s ‘discriminatory’ practices in dealing with them, as well as no action being taken on a type of coronavirus being called the ‘Indian variant’.

    IT Minister had earlier said that it is “astounding” that Twitter, that portrays itself as the flag bearer of free speech, chooses the path of deliberate defiance when it comes to the intermediary guidelines.

    The ministry has called out Twitter on a number of occasions for attempting to dictate terms to the world’s largest democracy.

    “Twitter needs to stop beating around the bush and comply with the laws of the land,” IT Ministry has stated in the past.

  • Twitter appoints US-based Jeremy Kessel as new grievance officer for India

    By Online Desk
    Twitter has appointed California-based Jeremy Kessel as the new grievance officer for India, a day after its interim grievance officer for India Dharmendra Chatur stepped down on Sunday.

    Kessel is also working as Twitter’s Global Legal Policy Director.

    Kessel’s appointment, however, is not in line with new IT rules. Under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, all nodal officials, including the grievance redressal officer, should be based out of India.

    The interim grievance officer Dharmendra Chatur had quit amid the tussle between when the micro-blogging platform and the Indian government over the new social media rules.

     The government has slammed Twitter for deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the country’s new IT rules.

    The new rules which came into effect on May 25 mandate social media companies to establish a grievance redressal mechanism for resolving complaints from the users or victims.

    All significant social media companies, with over 50 lakh user bases shall appoint a grievance officer to deal with such complaints and share the name and contact details of such officers.

    Twitter, in response to the final notice issued by the government on June 5, had said that it intends to comply with the new IT rules and will share details of the chief compliance officer.

  • Twitter website displays distorted map of India; J&K, Ladakh shown as separate country

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Amid a stand-off with the Indian government over compliance with new IT rules, the Twitter website is displaying a wrong map of India, showing Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as a separate country.

    The glaring distortion appears on the career section of Twitter website under the header ‘Tweep Life’.

    This is the second time Twitter has misrepresented India’s map.

    ALSO READ: Twitter interim grievance officer for India steps down weeks after appointment

    Earlier it had shown Leh as part of China.

    The US digital giant has been engaged in a tussle with the Indian government over the new social media rules.

    The government has slammed Twitter for deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the country’s new IT rules, which has led to the microblogging platform losing its legal shield as an intermediary in India, and becoming liable for users posting any unlawful content.