India Among Top 5 Countries Issuing Content Blocking Orders, Twitter Says

India made the very best variety of authorized calls for globally to take away content material posted by verified journalists and information retailers on Twitter throughout July-December 2021, the microblogging platform mentioned.

In its newest transparency report, [Twitter](https://www.gadgets360.com/tags/twitter) mentioned India was solely behind the US in looking for Twitter account info, accounting for 19 % of worldwide info requests. It was among the many prime 5 nations to situation content-blocking orders to Twitter throughout July-December 2021 for every kind of customers.

Twitter mentioned 349 accounts of verified journalists and information retailers positioned world wide had been topic to 326 authorized calls for to take away content material, a 103 % improve within the variety of accounts for the reason that earlier interval (January-June 2021).

“This spike is largely attributed to legal demands submitted by India (114), Turkey (78), Russia (55), and Pakistan (48),” it mentioned.

India had topped this record for January-June 2021 as effectively. In that timeframe, India had made 89 of the full 231 such calls for the platform acquired globally.

Twitter mentioned ‘authorized calls for’ embody a mixture of court docket orders and different formal calls for to take away content material, from each governmental entities and attorneys representing people.

Without giving particulars, 17 tweets from verified journalists and information retailers globally had been withheld in the course of the second half of 2021 as in comparison with 11 tweets withheld throughout January-June.

Twitter mentioned it acquired a authorized demand from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in India to take away content material referring to privateness points involving a minor.

While Twitter didn’t title anybody, the reference was to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s tweet of August final yr when he shared an image of the mother and father of a minor Dalit woman who was allegedly raped.

“The reported tweet published by a high-ranking political figure was withheld in India in compliance with the Indian law,” it mentioned.

Twitter additionally acquired the second highest variety of authorities authorized requests for offering account info of customers from India, after the US.

“The United States submitted the most government information requests during this reporting period, accounting for 20 percent of the global volume, and 39 percent of the global accounts specified.

“The second highest quantity of requests originated from India, comprising 19 % of worldwide info requests and 27 % of the worldwide accounts specified,” it said.

Japan, France and Germany were the other three nations in top five countries by volume.

“Twitter acquired 63 (+3 %) extra routine requests from India, whereas the variety of routine accounts specified elevated by 205 (+3 %) throughout this reporting interval for a complete of two,211 requests for 7,768 accounts,” the report said. Globally, Twitter received 11,460 requests.

Giving details of legal demands made from India, Twitter said a total of 3,992, or 8 per cent of 47,572 worldwide, requests to remove content from its platform were made during July-December 2021. These included 23 court orders and 3,969 other legal demands. During this period, Twitter withheld 88 accounts and 303 tweets in India.

As per Twitter guidelines, ‘government information requests’ include both emergency and routine legal demands for account information issued by law enforcement and other government agencies.

‘Routine requests’ (aka non-emergency requests) are legal demands issued by government or law enforcement authorities (e.g., subpoenas, court orders, search warrants) that compel Twitter to turn over account information.

Twitter said it may disclose account information to law enforcement agencies in response to a valid ’emergency request’ if it is provided with sufficient information to support a good faith belief that there is an imminent threat involving danger of death or serious physical injury to a person, and it has information relevant to averting or mitigating the threat.

“97 % of the full world quantity of authorized calls for originated from solely 5 nations (in lowering order): Japan, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, and India. These 5 nations have remained Twitter’s prime requesting nations for authorized calls for over the previous three years,” the report said.

India is the fifth highest requestor, accounting for 8 percent of global legal demands. “Maintaining its place among the many prime 5 requesters, the Indian authorities continued to submit a big variety of authorized calls for this reporting interval, which additionally included a excessive quantity of URLs,” it said.

On ‘preservation requests’, it said global government preservation requests increased by 10 per cent, while accounts specified increased by 19 percent during this reporting period.

The US (34 percent) and India (51 percent) together accounted for 85 percent of all global preservation requests.

‘Preservation requests’ refer to government and law enforcement requests made in accordance with relevant law that require Twitter to maintain the specified account data pending the issuance of a valid legal process to obtain that data.