The Centre on Tuesday lashed out at former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for claiming that the Indian government threatened to wind it down and conducted raids on employees' homes, saying it is an attempt to "brush out that very dubious period of Twitter's history".
Reacting to Dorsey who alleged in an interview with YouTube channel Breaking Points that the threats came as Twitter refused to comply with the government's demands to block accounts during the farmers' protests in early 2021, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said that no one went to jail nor was Twitter shut down in the country.
"This is an outright lie by @jack -- perhaps an attempt to brush out that very dubious period of Twitter's history. Twitter under Dorsey and his team were in repeated and continuous violations of the India law," Chandrasekhar said in a tweet.
The Minister said that as a matter of fact, Twitter was in non-compliance with law repeatedly from 2020 to 2022 "and it was only June 2022 when they finally complied".
"To set the record straight, no one was raided or sent to jail. Our focus was only on ensuring the compliance of Indian laws. Dorsey's Twitter regime had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law. It behaved as if the laws of India did not apply to it," Chandrasekhar noted.
In the interview, Dorsey said that India put pressure on the platform.
"We would raid the homes of your employees', which they did; We will shut down your offices if you don't follow suit. And this is India, a democratic country," Dorsey said on the channel when asked to share some examples of pressure from foreign governments during his tenure, before Elon Musk took over.
"India is a country that had many requests of us around the farmers' protest, around particular journalists that were critical of the government, and it manifested in ways such as 'we will shut Twitter down in India', which is a very large market for us," Dorsey added.
In a reply, Chandrasekhar said that India as a sovereign nation has the right to ensure that its laws are followed by all companies operating in India.
"During the protests in January 2021, there was a lot of misinformation and even reports of genocide which were definitely fake. The government was obligated to remove misinformation from the platform because it had the potential to further inflame the situation based on fake news," explained the Minister.
"Such was the level of partisan behaviour on Twitter under Jack regime, that they had a problem removing misinformation from the platform in India, when they did it themselves when similar events took place in the US," he said.
According to the Minister, there is ample evidence now in public domain about Jack's Twitter's "arbitrary, blatantly partisan and discriminatory conduct and misuse of its power on its platform during that period".
"Twitter under Dorsey was not just violating Indian law, but was partisan in how it was using 'de-amplify' and deplatforming of some arbitrarily in violation of Articles 14,19 of our constitution and also assisting in weaponising of misinformation," he further said.
"All social media intermediaries operating in India have to comply with laws to ensure that the internet is safe, trusted and accountable," said the Minister.
HM Shah stresses on mapping of demographic data of people along India-Myanmar border
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the demographic data of people along the India-Myanmar border, especially in Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur, should be mapped so that it can help in fencing of the border and infiltration can be stopped.
Drugs worth Rs 78 crore seized in Tripura, one held
In a major haul, the Assam Rifles in coordination with the other law enforcing agencies on Saturday seized 3.9 lakh methamphetamine tablets valued at around Rs 78 crore and arrested a drug peddler in Tripura, officials said on Saturday.
Manipur: Arms and ammunition recovered; two held with drugs
Manipur Police and other security forces recovered some arms and ammunition from different fringe and vulnerable areas and arrested two persons with drugs on Saturday, officials said.
New Maha Cabinet: Fadnavis keeps Home, Shinde gets Urban Development, Ajit Pawar in charge of Finance
Finally, the wait is over. Governor CP Radhakrishnan on Saturday approved the portfolio allocation to the ministers as recommended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The list was released after the conclusion of a weeklong winter session.
Explained: Key recommendations of 55th GST Council meet
From reducing GST rate on fortified rice kernel (FRK) to fully exempt GST on gene therapy, the 55th GST Council meeting, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Saturday made some key recommendations to provide relief to individuals and businesses.
India a natural trade and commerce partner of Kuwait: PM Modi
India has been a natural trading partner of Kuwait and continues to be so in contemporary times and people-to-people linkages over centuries have fostered a special bond of friendship between the two countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar brings peace through meditation to UN headquarters consumed by global turmoil
Eighteen minutes of tranquility descended on the world organisation’s headquarters consumed by global turmoil as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar led a meditation session as a path to peace at the United Nations.
NE not just strategically important but also an epitome of nation's diversity, culture: Minister
Union Minister of State for DoNER Sukanta Majumdar on Friday underscored the strategic importance of the northeastern region and said that the region is not just a geographically significant part of the country but it is also an epitome of the nation's diversity, culture, and strategic importance.