Twitter Must Abide By The Clarion Call To Respect The Law Of The land

Image : Representational Purpose Only

Ever since Twitter had flagged off BJP’s  National spokesperson Sambit Patra’s tweets alleging the use of a ‘toolkit’ by Congress as manipulated media. it has found itself in a ugly confrontation with the government . If the tweets flagging was not enough it further enraged the government for willing to comply with the new IT rules .

Twitter had shown its defiance unlike other social media giants – Facebook, Google and WhatsApp who had agreed to comply with the Indian government’s new IT rules. As per the guidelines, these companies have announced to appoint statutory officers which was a mandate under the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. This reluctance by Twitter saw the government sending out a blunt message. Follow or face the consequences.

Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad turned on the heat on twitter when he remarked, “I am not the one who declared it (removal of Twitter’s intermediary status), the law has. If others followed, why couldn’t they? We asked for three officers to be appointed in three months and the period had exhausted on May 26. We gave them the last opportunity as goodwill gesture,” Prasad said.

The microblogging site, the minister said, had failed to appoint executives in the roles of resident grievance officer, nodal officer and chief compliance officer as per norms of the government to deal with abuse and use of social media. “We gave them (Twitter) three months’ time. Others have followed, they haven’t. Rule 7 of (IT) guidelines says if you don’t comply then under Sec 79 you may lose intermediary status and may become liable to other laws including penal laws of the country,” Prasad was quoted as saying.

It may be recalled that intermediary status of Twitter was also removed recently and making the microblogging site liable under provisions, including the Indian Penal Code.

Twitter’s woes did not end there. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT had told the United States-based social media giant that the rule of the land was supreme and the company must abide by the Indian laws. During a 90-minute deposition before the panel, chaired by senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor, the Twitter India officials were asked ‘tough and searching questions’, including why the company should not be fined as it has been found ‘violating’ rules of the country.

Facing the heat Twitter remarked, “We appreciate opportunity to share our views before Standing Committee on IT. Twitter stands prepared to work with the Committee on important work of safeguarding citizens’ rights online in line with our principles of transparency, freedom of expression, & privacy.

Hence it is high time Twitter too gives up its brazen audacious statement “We follow our own policies” and abide by the law of India. That would end this bitter battle and put to rest the controversy.