The Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology sent twitter a notice of unilateral decision to unblock
more than 250 twitter accounts which had been withheld in India following a legal
request.
The notice states that Twitter, by
unblocking these accounts, is in violation of Section 69 of the Information
Technology Act, which has a prison term of up to seven years.
Why Dozens of Twitter Accounts Were
Blocked?
A dozen of twitter accounts were
blocked on 1st February, including the leading news magazine, at the request of
the government on the grounds that users were posting violence-inducing
content.
The move by the social media giant came
as a result of protests by Indian farmers, which took a violent turn in January
last week, killing a demonstrator and wounding hundreds of people, including
police officers.
Tens of thousands of farmers have been
camping in the suburbs of New Delhi for more than two months, seeking the
removal of new agricultural regulations that they argue favors private buyers
at the expense of growers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government rejects
this, arguing that the changes open up new opportunities for farmers to market
their produce directly to private buyers.
A government official said the Ministry
of Home Affairs had asked for the suspension of "close to 250 Twitter
accounts" which were claimed to have shared material that appeared to
incite violence. "The order was issued against accounts that were using
the hashtag #modiplanningfarmersgenocide that started on 30th January,"
"Genocide incitement is a public
offence and a great threat to public order," said the official, who asked
not to be named because he was not able to deal publicly with the matter.
India's information technology
regulations allow the government to continue to censor internet material that
is viewed as an opportunity to disturb public order.
Farmer’s Agitation Echoes Globally
International pop star Rihanna shared
her tweet with "#FarmersProtest" to say, "Why aren't we talking
about this?! Was Rihanna objected to the suspension of internet services or
commented on the merits of the three farm rules? It is not clear. But her tweet
was perceived as endorsing their demands by members of the farmers' movement.
Her Twitter post was viral and at least
two more internet celebrities—climate protester Greta Thunberg and porn
actor-turned-model Mia Khalifa wrote tweets about the farmers' rally in the
outskirts of Delhi. That the three celebrities will post within 24 hours on a
topic that unified all anti-government camps, causing many to wonder whether
tweets were part of a "coordinated campaign" by some activist groups.
People dealing with human rights and
survival problems do not understand borders, Congress chief and former finance
minister P. Chidamabaram said late Wednesday night about tweets by singer
Rihanna and environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg.
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA) described the tweets by Ms Rihanna and Ms Thunberg, both
of whom declared their support for the farmers' unrest, as
"sensationalist." However, the stance of the former finance minister
on Twitter was different from the views of his former party leader Rahul
Gandhi, who called the farmers' protests an "internal matter" in the
press.
"It's a positive thing that
Rihanna and Greta Thunberg will wake up to the MEA (External Ministry). Come on
MEA, when will you know that people dealing with human rights and livelihood
problems do not understand national boundaries? "Mr Chidambaram asked in a
series of tweets.
Many Indian
celebrities like Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan have backed the Ministry of External Affairs
soon after it put out a statement saying that international celebrities
tweeting on the farmers' protests in India was 'neither accurate nor
responsible'. Some notable Indian cricketers including Virat Kohli and Sachin
Tendulkar tweeted on farmers protest.
Sachin Tendulkar
tweeted that “India’s sovereignty
cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants.
Indians know India and should decide for India. Let's remain united as a
nation. All celebrities used hashtags #India together and #India against
propaganda. "Farmer’s
Agitation is a complex and nuanced issue
which requires comprehensive discussion. It doesn't require activism on either
side." Said the editor of a news channel.
Another Congress MP
and former State for External Affairs minister, Shashi Tharoor, said that the
drive by Indian celebrities on the social media site to fight tweets by Mrs
Rihanna and Mrs Thunberg would not serve to boost the government's profile.
"It is
humiliating for the Government of India to get Indian celebrities to respond to
Western celebrities. The harm caused by GoI's obduracy and undemocratic conduct
to India's global reputation cannot be remedied by cricketer’s tweets. Drop
farm laws & explore options with farmers & get #IndiaTogether," Mr
Tharoor tweeted late.
Notice Sent to
Twitter on Restored Accounts
Indian government
sends notices to Twitter for not complying with its order to remove
accounts trying to incite the situation amid Farmer’s
protest. This after Twitter unblocked
some accounts after briefly suspending them.
The Government sent
a notice to Twitter for the restoring a number of suspended accounts that backed
farmers' protests and notify them of the repercussions of the failure to comply
with the guidelines given under section 69A of the Act. Twitter after blocking
hundreds of accounts earlier in the day, it restored the accounts on the night
of February 1st.
The 18-page notice
sent to twitter by Indian government claimed that
"the impracticability or disproportionality of the said measure cannot be
decided by Twitter, which is an intermediary bound by the orders of the Central
Government."
Laws under 69A of
the IT Act are also used in government-mandated Internet take-offs. The rules
allow the government to restrict public access to information from a device 'in
the interests of the sovereignty and dignity of India, the protection of India,
the welfare of the State, ties of friendship with foreign States or public order,
or to prevent incitement to commit any recognizable offenses relevant to the
above.'
After Twitter
initially complied with the request, officials of the corporation and the
Ministry met on evening of 1st February 2021 in which the social media site protested
that the contents were "free speech" and "newsworthy."
Government sources
told The Indian Express on the same evening that they had not revised their
order at the Twitter conference. "Yes, Twitter was trying to fight back
against the order, but we didn't change it. You can't write that the PM is
committing a genocide against farmers and get away with it. The directives
should be followed by Twitter. People can't afford to disrespect the prime
minister of the land like this," a government source said.
Written by - Anushka
Jain
Edited by - Adrija
Saha
0 Comments