Have to follow Indian law, govt warns Twitter
NEW DELHI: Social media companies will need to follow India’s laws or face strict action, minister for electronics and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said in Parliament on Thursday, while adding that the government is working on new rules to make companies such as Twitter and Facebook more responsive to directions and accountable to Indian laws.
Prasad said the government was in the favour of freedom of speech and expression but warned that the abuse of social media platforms for harms such as fake news and election manipulation will not be tolerated.
“We respect social media. We also respect criticism. But we will not tolerate the misuse of social media for fake news. Today, from here in Parliament, I politely remind the companies, whether it is Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or WhatsApp or anyone, they are free to work in India, do business, but they need to respect the Indian Constitution, they need to respect the Indian law,” he said.
The minister also drew a comparison between the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and the January 26 violence at Red Fort, saying that “certain microblogging platforms” took action in the first case but dragged their feet during the incident in India. “This double standard will not
work here,” he warned.
The minister’s comments follow days of tensions between the government and Twitter over taking down more than 1,300 accounts or posts in connection with the farmers’ protest and the violence that occurred on January 26. The social media company only partially complied with the order, saying that the directions were not consistent with Indian law.
“When a company becomes a platform, you make the rules to assess what is wrong and what is right. But that doesn’t mean that the laws of India will not apply to them,” Prasad said, after telling Parliament that his ministry and the information and broadcasting ministry were working on new guidelines.
The government in reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha also asserted that the rules under the IT Act, 2000, are in the process of being amended. “These Rules are being amended to make social media platforms more responsive and accountable to Indian laws. These Rules will also make digital media platforms to adhere to Code of Ethics.”
According to officials familiar with the matter, the guidelines are likely to be finalised soon to ensure that social media platforms “take responsibility” and be held accountable for the content shared on them. As intermediaries, the companies are not liable to face action for posts made by users.
“The current guidelines state that if the government asks the intermediary to take down posts, then they have to oblige,” said an official familiar with the matter, asking not to be named.
“The new guidelines are likely to strengthen the procedures so companies can’t say they are an intermediary.”