‘Twitter got several opportunities to comply with IT Rules’: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad justified the removal of Twitter’s legal protection in India over non-compliance with Intermediary Guidelines, which, he said, it deliberately chose not to comply with.

Union information and technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday justified Twitter losing legal protection in India, saying that the social media giant failed to comply with the new IT guidelines despite being given multiple opportunities.

Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad (File Photo/HT)

“There are numerous queries arising as to whether Twitter is entitled to safe harbour provision. However, the simple fact of the matter is that Twitter has failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines that came into effect from the 26th of May. Further, it was given multiple opportunities to comply with the same, however it has deliberately chosen the path of non-compliance,” Prasad posted on his account on Koo, which is touted by many as the Indian version of Twitter.

Further justifying the action, the minister said that in a country like India, with the amplification of social media, “even a small spark can cause fire”, adding that this was one of the many reasons why the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules were notified. “It is astounding that Twitter, which portrays itself as the flag bearer of free speech, chooses the path of deliberate defiance when it comes to the Intermediary Guidelines,” he added.

Prasad also termed as “perplexing” what he said was Twitter’s failure to address the grievances of users by refusing to set up its processes as mandated by the law of the land. Alluding to an FIR filed against Twitter, among others, in Uttar Pradesh, he posted, “What happened in Uttar Pradesh was illustrative of Twitter’s arbitrariness in fighting fake news. While Twitter has been about its fact-checking mechanism, its failure to act in multiple cases like Uttar Pradesh is perplexing and indicates its inconsistency in fighting misinformation.”

He also remarked that Indian firms doing business in the USA (where Twitter is headquartered) or in any other foreign country follow the local rules but the same cannot be said about Twitter in India.

“The rule of law is the bedrock of Indian society. India’s commitment to the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech was yet again reaffirmed at the G7 summit. However, if any foreign entity believes they can portray themselves as the flag bearer of speech in India to excuse itself from complying with the law of the land, such attempts are misplaced,” Prasad further said.

The minister also posted the same statements on his Twitter account.

This latest development comes despite Twitter naming a compliance officer, albeit on an interim basis, one of the several conditions it has to follow under the new guidelines. The rules were announced on February 25 and social media companies were given three months, or May 25, to ensure compliance. Twitter, which is now the only mainstream platform to lose legal immunity in India, was engaged in a faceoff with the Ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), which Prasad heads, over the rules.

The loss of legal protection means that Twitter can now be prosecuted under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for content posted by a user on the platform.