A lot has been happening in the last few months when it comes to Twitter and the new IT rules of the country, which came into effect last month. The latest update in the Twitter vs Indian government battle comes earlier on Wednesday, which reveals that the microblogging site has lost the legal protection granted under Section 79 of the IT Act. Soon after the announcement was made, hashtags like #banTwitter, #TwitterIndiaBan, and some others started to trend, interestingly on Twitter. Such irony!
Some of the biggest questions to answer now are: why are these hashtags trending on Twitter? Why do users want Twitter to be banned in India? What does losing a legal shield means? Let’s explain all these here today and clear your confusion.
Twitter to get banned in India? Fact check
There are no official words on Twitter getting banned in India yet, but it seems users do want the ban to be implemented. We say this considering hashtag like #banTwitter, #TwitterIndiaBan, among others are trending on the microblogging site.
The Indian government has been warning Twitter to comply with new IT rules since the last few months, but the social media platform has been delaying the process. Meanwhile, other social platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Google, among others have all complied with the new IT rules and guidelines.
The last warning given to Twitter by the Indian officials was on June 5, but the microblogging site still failed to comply with the new social rules. This led Twitter to loss the legal shield in India. Now, what does that mean?
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Losing the legal protection means that Twitter will now be accountable for content published on its platform and can no longer claim protection under the “safe harbour clause” like other social media platforms.
In simple terms, if there are any charges against Twitter for alleged unlawful content it would be treated as a publisher and not an intermediary. By losing the legal protection, the microblogging site will now be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India just like other publishers.
Government sources informed the Times of India that Twitter has “lost the coveted ‘safe harbour’ immunity in India over its failure to appoint statutory officers on the company’s role in India with the new IT rules. Due to this, top executives, including the country managing director, could face police questioning and criminal liability under IPC over ‘unlawful’ and ‘inflammatory’ content posted on the platform by any user.”
The microblogging site, on Tuesday, said that it has appointed an “interim” chief compliance officer but is yet to share the required details with the IT ministry but will do the required soon. “We are keeping the IT Ministry apprised of the progress at every step of the process. An interim chief compliance officer has been retained and details will be shared with the Ministry directly soon. Twitter continues to make every effort to comply with the new Guidelines,” Twitter spokesperson said.
IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also bashed Twitter for not complying with the new IT rules despite repeated earnings in a series of tweets. Prasad said that when “Indian companies be it pharma, IT or others that go to do business in USA or in other foreign countries, voluntarily follow the local laws. Then why are platforms like Twitter showing reluctance in following Indian laws designed to give voice to the victims of abuse and misuse?”
“If any foreign entity believes that they can portray itself as the flag bearer of free speech in India to excuse itself from complying with the law of the land, such attempts are misplaced,” Prasad further added.
