Govt asks Twitter to drop ‘manipulated media’ tag from toolkit tweets

An official familiar with the matter said that in its communication, the ministry has stated that a complaint has already been made by one of the concerned parties before local law enforcement and the veracity of the toolkit is under investigation.

The ministry of electronics and information technology has sent a strongly worded notice to microblogging platform Twitter, for affixing the manipulated media tag to “tweets made by Indian political leaders with reference to a toolkit created to undermine, derail and demean the efforts of the Government against the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The ministry has stated that Twitter’s decision to use the manipulated media tag appears “prejudged and prejudiced.” (Reuters file photo)

An official familiar with the matter said that in its communication, the ministry has stated that a complaint has already been made by one of the concerned parties before local law enforcement and the veracity of the toolkit is under investigation.

The ministry has stated that Twitter’s decision to use the manipulated media tag appears “prejudged and prejudiced.” “While the local law enforcement agency is undertaking the investigation to determine the veracity of the ‘tookit’, Twitter has unilaterally drawn a conclusion in this matter and arbitrarily tagged it as ‘Manipulated Media’,” the ministry has stated, said the official. “Such tagging by Twitter appears prejudged, prejudiced and a deliberate attempt to colour the investigation by local law enforcement agency.”

Twitter declined to comment.

Twitter’s policies, however, clearly state that it can use “deceptively altered media”. “We may label Tweets that include media (videos, audio, and images) that have been deceptively altered or fabricated. In addition, you may not share deceptively altered media on Twitter in ways that mislead or deceive people about the media’s authenticity where threats to physical safety or other serious harm may result,” states the company’s policy.

The government’s directive comes barely hours after Twitter tagged a May 18 post by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra as “manipulated media”. In the post, Patra alleged that the Congress circulated a document that outlined ways to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP alleged the toolkit was aimed at building a biased narrative over the Indian government’s handling of the second wave of Covid-19, and the Central Vista Project. Many top BJP leaders, including its chief JP Nadda and Union ministers Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hardeep Puri, and Piyush Goyal, amplified Patra’s tweet.

The Congress accused the BJP of concocting the document on Covid-19 to defame the opposition party. It wrote to Twitter on Thursday seeking action against Patra and other BJP leaders for “grossly misusing” the platform. The Congress accused the BJP of indulging in “large-scale dissemination of false information”, which “has the potential to cause social unrest in the country”.

The Ministry has termed the “unilateral action by Twitter as an effort to influence the fair investigation process and a clear overreach, which is totally unwarranted”. It further added that the action dilutes the credibility of the platform. “This action not only dilutes the credibility of Twitter as a neutral and unbiased platform facilitating exchange of views by the users but also puts a question mark on the status of Twitter as an “Intermediary.”

In February, Twitter was locked in a rare confrontation with the Union government after being given orders to block over 1,300 links -- entire profiles as well as posts -- for alleged incitement during the January 26 farm protest-linked violence. The company complied partially, saying that the orders were not consistent with the law, prompting the government as well as legal experts to accuse it of ignoring the rule of law. The ministry then sent a strongly worded notice to comply, asking it to comply with the directive or face penal action. Over 95% of the URLs were blocked by Twitter, but the accounts continue to remain accessible.

The ministry on Friday asked Twitter to remove the “prejudicial” tag in the interest of “fairness and equity”.

Patra, on May 18, tweeted, “Friends look at the #CongressToolKit in extending help to the needy during the Pandemic! More of a PR exercise with the help of “Friendly Journalists” & “Influencers” than a soulful endeavour. Read for yourselves the agenda of the Congress: #CongressToolKitExposed”.

Internet Freedom Foundation trustee Apar Gupta said that matter raises concerns regarding the legal powers invoked to ask Twitter to take down the tag. “A threshold concern arises with respect to the legal power that has been used given that the information technology act may not contain such powers. The directions, if any, need to be clearly anchored within existing law, which is right now, not present. It also raises concerns given that platforms have been asked by MEITY barely two to three backs to contain disinformation regarding the pandemic,” Gupta said.