Barely an year after Twitter was taken to court regarding compliance with the Information Technology Rules, 2021, the micro-blogging platform has now sued the Indian government.
Twitter approached the Karnataka High Court seeking relief from some of the blocking orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000.
However, what led to this? Why has Twitter decided to challenge the Indian government? Are there any similar parallels to this worldwide?
Let’s get down to this step by step —
What led to this?
In June, MeitY served Twitter notices which alleged that the platform was being non-compliant with the Information Technology Rules 2021. According to sources, the letter had warned that non-compliance to the rules would mean initiating criminal proceedings against Twitter’s chief compliance officer, and losing safe harbour under Section 79(1) of the IT Act. Section 79 (1) of the IT Act gives immunity to intermediaries from content posted by third parties.
Why was MeitY not happy with Twitter?
According to reports, MeitY’s contention with Twitter was that the platform was not complying with its blocking orders in its entirety. The ministry was also miffed with the ministry’s failure to act on such takedown notices, served under Sec 69A of the IT Act.
What is Sec 69A of the IT Act?
Under Sec 69A of the IT Act, Central government, represented here by MeitY, or any other specially-authorised officer, can issue blocking orders to platforms like Twitter under specific ground such as —
While Twitter complied with several notices of MeitY but it did not comply with a few citing that the orders by the ministry were problematic.
Sources familiar with the writ petition that has been filed by Twitter at the Karnataka High Court, that several of the current blocking orders by MeitY did not meet the requirements of Section 69A, and that MeitY was disproportionately using its power by asking Twitter to block accounts in its entirety.
In fact, according to disclosures made by Twitter to Lumen Database, the social media platform had ‘partially’ taken action to several government requests.
Is Twitter now compliant to the IT Rules, 2021?
Yes. After being given a deadline of July 4 to be compliant to the notices sent by MeitY, Twitter has now reportedly met the requirements, according to a PTI report.
However, it is not yet to what degree they are compliant because in the Karnataka High Court, Twitter is seeking judicial review of a few of the blocking orders of the government and ultimately for the court to set them aside.
If Twitter is now ‘compliant’, why are they suing the Indian government?
It all boils down to the notices that MeitY sent to Twitter in June. According to sources close to the court filing, MEity’s warning that a chief compliance officer can be liable for Twitter’s non-compliance under Sec 69A (as mandated under the IT Rules 2021) was a matter of concern for the platform.
Sources also said that complying to a few of the blocking orders which, for instance, contains content from official handles of political parties, will be a violation of Freedom of Speech of users on the platform.
How did the government respond?
Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Be it any company, in any sector, they should abide by the laws of India. This is the responsibility of everyone to abide by the laws passed by the Parliament.”
Similarly, MoS in MeitY Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a tweet said that although intermediaries have the right to go for judicial review, they have to comply with the country’s laws and rules.
What has been the effect of 'compliance'?
According to an Moneycontrol analysis, Twitter has already taken action on the most number of content pieces (tweets and accounts) for 2022 in June. The timing of the notices and the increased uptick in the number of disclosures Twitter made to Lumen Database regarding content removals in June indicate that it may be an effect of the former.
An analysis of the Lumen Database, a website that receives and publishes disclosures by social media companies on takedown notices from governments across the world, revealed Twitter made 15 such disclosures in June. But in comparison, Twitter made 2 disclosures in May, 3 in April, 5 in March, 4 in February and 9 in January.
What next?
The case is yet to be registered in the Karnataka High Court, but civil society and industry will be keenly following developments of this legal battle, as it is being claimed that the outcome of this battle may shape the country’s internet in the future.
Is this the first time that Twitter has run into trouble with the Indian government?
No. Here is a quick timeline of what happened earlier —
2018: Pictures of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey holding 'Smash Brahmanical Patriarchy' placard angered some Twitter users and the firm had to later apologise.
November, 2020: The Indian government issued a notice to Twitter for showing Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir instead of the Union Territory of Ladakh.
December, 2020: Twitter India tagged BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya's tweet on farmer protest as 'manipulated media', which the government objected to.
May to August 2021: After the IT Rules 2021 came into force in May, Twitter had requested more time to comply with the rules. In July, the Union government said that Twitter had failed to comply with the rules. However, in August, Twitter made the necessary appointments as mandated under the rules, and were in compliance.
June: Twitter was named in an FIR filed by Ghaziabad police for sharing the video of assault on a 65-year-old which allegedly disrupted communal harmony. Former Twitter personnel Manish Maheshwari was summoned by the UP Police for questioning. However, this was quashed by the Karnataka HC.
Has Twitter ever sued any other government before?
Twitter had earlier sued the United States government in 2013 over restrictions the government allegedly placed on how much the company can disclose about surveillance requests it received from the government.
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