Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the allegations was an ‘outright lie’ by Jack Dorsey – perhaps an attempt to brush out that very dubious period of Twitter’s history.
The minister said that as a matter of fact, Twitter was in non-compliance with law repeatedly from 2020 to 2022 “and it was only in June 2022 when they finally complied”.
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“To set the record straight, no one was raided or sent to jail. Our focus was only on ensuring the compliance of Indian laws. Dorsey’s Twitter regime had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law. It behaved as if the laws of India did not apply to it,” Chandrasekhar said.
In an interview on the YouTube news show Breaking Points, Dorsey had asserted that Twitter faced threats of shutdowns not only in India but also in Nigeria and Turkey due to its failure to comply with orders to restrict certain accounts. The Indian government specifically aimed to curtail the use of the social media platform by journalists and protesters, according to Dorsey’s statements.
In a reply, Chandrasekhar said that India as a sovereign nation has the right to ensure that its laws are followed by all companies operating in India.
“No one went to jail nor was twitter “shutdown”. Dorseys Twitter regime had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law. It behaved as if the laws of India did not apply to it. India as a sovereign nation has the right to ensure that its laws are followed by all companies operating in India. During the protests in January 2021, there was a lot of misinformation and even reports of genocide which were definitely fake. GoI was obligated to remove misinformation from the platform because it had the potential to further inflame the situation based on fake news,” the minister said.
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The Union minister further said that “Such was the level of partisan behaviour on Twitter under Jack regime, that they had a problem removing misinformation from the platform in India, when they did it themselves when similar events took place in the USA. To set the record straight, no one was raided or sent to jail. Our focus was only on ensuring the compliance of Indian laws. There is ample evidence now in public domain abt Jacks twitter’s arbitrary, blatantly partisan n discriminatory conduct and misuse of its power on its platform during that period.”
“Twitter under Dorsey was not just violating Indian law, but was partisan in how it was using “deamplify” n deplatforming of some arbitrarily in violation of Art 14,19 of our constitution and also assisting in weaponising of misinformation. Our govts policies remain clear for all Intermediaries operating in India – compliance with laws to ensure Internet is Safe& Trusted, Accountable,” the minister said.
