Twitter which is fighting a running battle with Indian government over new IT rules, temporarily blocked the account of IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. According Twitter, the account was blocked for nearly an hour over alleged violation of an American copyright law due to one of his tweets. The minister linked the action by the global microblogging giant to his tough stand against the company over non-compliance with the new rules. “Twitter’s actions indicate that they are not the harbinger of free speech that they claim to be but are only interested in running their own agenda, with the threat that if you do not tow the line they draw, they will arbitrarily remove you from their platform,” Prasad said.
It later emerged, through the Lumen database of Harvard University, that Prasad’s tweet that resulted in the action was from December 2017. He had tagged music composer AR Rehman’s ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’ video, while writing about India’s 1971 victory over Pakistan. The video, according to Twitter, violated copyright laws after there was a complaint to this effect.
What is, however, still unclear is why the company had taken the action after nearly three-and-a-half years, especially when it is embroiled in a bitter exchange with the government over the new IT rules and, also, why the account was restored after just an hour? Prasad alleged that the action and “agenda” by Twitter was the result of the government’s “no compromise” stand against the company after it failed to comply with the new rules. The non-compliance has seen Prasad’s IT Ministry reprimand Twitter over the past few weeks, while the company also lost its ‘safe harbour’ protection over third-party content, just when an FIR was filed against its India MD in relation to a probe by UP’s Ghaziabad Police.
A spokesperson for Twitter said, “We can confirm that the Honourable Minister’s account access was temporarily restricted due to a DMCA notice only and the referenced tweet has been withheld. As per our copyright policy, we respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorized representatives.”
Prasad, who voluntarily disclosed Twitter’s action, claimed that the “highly peculiar” action showed that Twitter is against carriage of free speech, and is rather interested in running its own “agenda”. The minister, who advocated action against the company under provisions of the new IT Rules as he was not served prior notice, carried screen shots of the email communication that he had received from Twitter during the blocking, and unblocking, but this did not have any timeline and dates.
The Minister said that the company’s actions were in “gross violation” of Rule 4(8) of the IT Rules, 2021 as they failed to provide him prior notice before denying access to his own account. “It is apparent that my statements calling out the high handedness and arbitrary actions of Twitter, particularly sharing the clips of my interviews to TV channels and its powerful impact, have clearly ruffled its feathers… Further, it is now apparent as to why Twitter is refusing to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines because if Twitter does comply, it would be unable to arbitrarily deny access to an individual’s account which does not suit their agenda,” the minister said.
Twitter shows J&K as separate country
Twitter was caught in yet another controversy as it created a near political furore by showing Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh as a separate country. The move came at a time when PM Modi has started engagements with political parties in J&K nearly two years after bifurcation of J&K into Union territories and revocation of its special status under Article 370.
No ‘safe harbour’ protection
The government has concluded that Twitter in India is no longer an “intermediary” and, therefore, cannot be provided the legal protection that is accorded to Internet intermediaries under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, senior government officials said. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has arrived at this view after consultations with legal experts and other departments of the government over the last several days, and is likely to present it before the courts or law enforcement agencies as and when the need arises, the officials said.
“It is up to the courts to decide finally whether Twitter will still enjoy safe harbour status or not. As far as we (the IT Ministry) are concerned, our view is now decided. They (Twitter) have till date not complied with multiple norms,” a senior Ministry official said.
