E-Paper
On Koo, Centre says Twitter's 'free expression' blog before meeting is 'unusual'
The timing of the blog post appears unusual to the Centre as Twitter sought a meeting with Central representatives but posted the blog before the meeting.
The ministry of electronic and IT on Wednesday said Twitter's blog post explaining what it did acting on the ministry's request and what it did not is "unusual" as the microblogging platform sought to engage with the IT secretary and before that meeting comes the blogpost. The ministry said it will share its detailed response soon. But in its initial response, it has been made clear that Twitter's blog post did not go down well with the government .
Twitter explains why it didn't take action on some handles despite Centre's push
Interestingly, the minister posted this message on Koo too, the made-in-India microblogging platform to which several Union ministers and departments have moved with their official handles. Immediately, the post gained traction in the forms of likes and re-koos. "Upon the request of Twitter seeking a meeting with the Govt., the Secretary IT was to engage with senior management of Twitter. In this light a blog post published prior to this engagement is unusual. Govt. will share its response soon," the ministry wrote.
The controversy stems from Republic Day violence in Delhi at farmers' tractor rally, shortly after which the Centre asked Twitter to take action against over 250 Twitter handles as they were "inciting genocide". Some action was taken but some handles were restored after a few hours. The Centre again nudged Twitter to take action and warned of penal measures against the social media platform. Parallel to this, ministers and government departments threw their weight behind Koo, the homegrown challenge to Twitter. Twitter sought a meeting with the ministry and said it was concerned over the safety of its staff.
As Twitter seeks talks, ministers and celebrities move to Indian-made app Koo
But before that meeting, Twitter posted an elaborate blog in which it listed out the actions it has taken against handles on the insistence of the government. But it also said that it did not take action against media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians as that would violate "their fundamental right to free expression under Indian law", Twitter said.
"We informed MeitY of our enforcement actions today, February 10, 2021. We will continue to maintain dialogue with the Indian government and respectfully engage with them," it wrote.
