Twitter Ordered to Censor Tweets Critical of India’s Censorship: Report

Twitter was allegedly ordered by the Indian authorities in 2021 to dam 2020 tweets by Freedom House in India that reported the declining Internet freedom within the nation. The social media firm is alleged to have solely enforced the order on Sunday. It additionally blocked some tweets and/ or handles of assorted different customers who’re mentioned to be crucial of the India authorities. Various customers have shared screenshots of emails they acquired from the microblogging platform explaining that the content material they shared has been blocked in India. Furthermore, some auxiliary accounts of customers have shared screenshots which learn that their accounts have been “withheld in India in response to a legal demand.” However, in some circumstances Twitter has not taken any motion after a elimination request from the Government of India.

The improvement was first reported by Entrackr, and the publication claimed that the content material elimination requests got here in 24 batches however had been disclosed (and apparently enforced) by Twitter on Sunday. It is to be famous that the content material of accounts and handles which are blocked in India are seen in different international locations. Gadgets 360 has reviewed the checklist of tweets that the Indian authorities ordered Twitter to dam, citing Information Technology Act, 2000 as the explanation for elimination, by way of the Lumen database – which tracks elimination requests for on-line content material. Moreover, we reached out to Twitter for a press release on the transfer, and acquired this assertion, “As explained in our Country Withheld Policy, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in response to a valid legal demand. The withholdings are limited to the specific jurisdiction/country where the content is determined to be illegal.”

Specific content material posted by the handles of Freedom House (@freedomhouse), which is a pro-democracy organisation devoted to the enlargement of freedom all over the world, as per its bio, has been restricted in India. The tweets withheld in India embrace one which mentioned the declining state of Internet freedom in India, a part of the organisation’s Freedom within the World 2021 report, the publication notes.

One of the withheld tweets by Freedom House included a hyperlink to a report which consisted of the names of nations (together with India) that blocked folks from web sites in addition to social media and its affect on curbing their entry to info throughout Covid-19.

A consumer additional highlighted that the Freedom House has taken down India’s Democracy Score from its interactive database, retaining only Global Freedom and Internet Freedom scores. The claims haven’t been independently confirmed by Gadgets 360.

Certain content material posted by deal with of Pieter Friedrich (@FriedrichPieter), a journalist and knowledgeable on South Asia affairs, was additionally withheld. Separately, Rana Ayyub, a journalist related to The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Time, New York Times, The Guardian, amongst different publications, posted a screenshot of an e-mail she acquired from Twitter wherein the platform has knowledgeable her that some content material (or tweet) she posted by way of her account has been withheld in India beneath Information Technology Act, 2000.

The e-mail clearly says that it’s Twitter’s coverage to inform account holders in case they obtain requests from authorised entities reminiscent of legislation enforcement or a authorities company to take away content material from their account.

Other than Ayyub, Furthermore, Twitter accounts of a Kuwaiti Lawyer who has Twitter deal with @MJALSHRIKA, who has a historical past of talking in opposition to the “atrocities on Indian Muslims”, CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) (by way of CJwerlemanshow) and @tTractor2twitr, which supported farmers motion (via) have been “withheld in India in response to a legal demand.”

Meanwhile, Twitter has additionally knowledgeable some customers that they acquired a request from the Indian authorities concerning their account violating the legal guidelines of India however the firm hasn’t taken any motion in opposition to them. Journalist Mohammed Zubair, who lately was within the information for sharing a clip wherein ex-BJP chief Nupur Sharma allegedly handed some derogatory remarks in opposition to Prophet Muhammad in a debate, shared a screenshot wherein Twitter clearly mentions that it has “not taken any action on the reported content at this time” as a result of “it believed in defending and respecting the voice of our users.” Zubair was arrested final night by Delhi Police for a 2018 tweet.

As per a 2021 report by Twitter, India was among the many 5 international locations which represented 95 % of the whole international quantity of authorized calls for, which embrace a mixture of court docket orders and different formal calls for to take away content material, from each governmental entities and attorneys representing people. India accounted for 11 % of world authorized calls for, down from 18 % within the earlier reporting interval.

Twitter reportedly noticed a surge in authorities calls for worldwide in 2020 to take down content material posted by journalists and information retailers. India submitted a lot of the elimination requests, adopted by Turkey, Pakistan, and Russia.