In the backdrop of recent issues between Twitter India and the Centre, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said that the government welcomes criticism, but non-compliance of law under the garb of freedom of speech and democracy is not acceptable. The Union minister, in an exclusive interview to ANI, also said that the social media platform should not “lecture us on democracy”.
Prasad’s reaction came even as the Delhi Police on Thursday said it has received a complaint against actress Swara Bhaskar, Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari and others in connection with social media posts about an attack on an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad on 5 June. “We have received a complaint against Swara Bhaskar, Manish Maheshwari, MD Twitter, and others at the Tilak Marg police station. It is under inquiry,” a senior police officer said.
In a related development, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology has called on Twitter to appear before the panel in Parliament Complex on 18 June at 4 pm and give representation on how to prevent misuse of social media and online news. “To hear the views of representatives of Twitter followed by evidence of representatives Electronics Technology ‘Safeguarding citizens’ rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space’,” the Parliamentary panel agenda read.
“Today there are 100 crores users of Twitter in India. I am happy. Let them earn money. Allow users to criticise us. Most welcome… That’s what freedom of speech and democracy is about. These issues are important. But under garb of these you think you won’t comply then it’s a misplaced argument,” said the Union Minister.
“I am not the one who declared it (removal of Twitter’s intermediary status), the law has. If others followed, why couldn’t they? We asked for three officers to be appointed in three months and the period had exhausted on May 26. We gave them the last opportunity as a goodwill gesture,” Union minister Prasad told ANI. “We gave them (Twitter) three months’ time. Others have followed, they haven’t. Rule 7 of (IT) guidelines says if you don’t comply then under Section 79, you may lose intermediary status and may become liable to other laws including penal laws of the country,” Prasad said.
As for the complaint received by Delhi Police against Swara Bhaskar, Manish Maheshwari and others in connection with social media posts about an attack on an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad on 5 June, a case was lodged at Delhi’s Tilak Marg police station by advocate Amit Acharya. The users of Twitter, namely Asif Khan, Arfa Khanum Sherwani on 14 June, and Swara Bhaskar on 15 June, through their Twitter handles, got inspired from the incident and started a propaganda to spread hate amongst the citizens, he said.
“These users have lakhs of followers and an official account. Knowing the fact that their tweets have an impact on society, they gave a communal colour to the incident without fact-checking the truthfulness of the incident. The tweets concerned were floated across the social media with the motive of hampering peace and harmony among religious groups,” the complaint said.
“The tweets did not indicate their personal opinions; instead showed wrong intentions of the users to initiate conspiracy against religious harmony in the country to encourage hate and enmity between the religious groups. Also, these tweets were shared on social media at a very large scale and thousands of users have liked, quoted and also re-tweeted the same. The users knowingly shared the false information and have thereby committed offences under IPC sections 153, 153A, 295A,505, 120B and 34,” it added.
“Moreover, Twitter Inc, Twitter Communication India Private Limited (TCIPL) and Manish Maheshwari (Managing Director Twitter India) did not take any action to remove these false tweets knowing the fact that the incident did not have any kind of communal angle,” the complaint said.
Earlier, the Ghaziabad Police lodged an FIR against Twitter, Congress leaders, and journalists Mohammed Zubair and Rana Ayyub over tweets in connection with the assault. A local Samajwadi Party leader, Ummed Pahalwan Idrisi, who appeared in a Facebook Live video alongside the elderly man, has also been booked.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS