‘Safety of Our Employees Top Priority’: Twitter Responds to Govt Notice | Read Full Statement

New Delhi: Twitter Inc. on Monday reached out to the Indian government seeking a formal dialogue regarding Centre’s order to take down more user accounts in connection to the tractor rally violence on Republic Day. “Safety of our employees is a top priority,” the micro-blogging website said in a statement within 24 hours of the government’s allegation that Twitter was promoting misinformation and provocative content.

“Safety of our employees is a top priority for us at Twitter. We continue to be engaged with the Government of India from a position of respect and have reached out to the Honourable Minister, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for a formal dialogue,” a Twitter spokesperson said in reaction to the Indian government’s order.

The BJP-led Centre had asked Twitter to block 1,178 accounts that were flagged by security agencies as accounts of Khalistan sympathisers or backed by Pakistan and operating from foreign territories and causing a threat to public order amid the ongoing farmer protest.

Many of these accounts were said to be automated bots that were used for sharing and amplifying misinformation and provocative content on farmers’ protests. The government complained that Twitter has not yet complied with the latest order and warned it of penal action in case of failure to comply with its directive.

Earlier, the Centre had ordered Twitter to take down all handles and hashtags that suggested farmer genocide, asserting such misinformation and inflammatory content will incite passion, and impact public order. Twitter had blocked those accounts for a few hours before unilaterally unblocking them.

Read the full text of Twitter’s statement:

“Safety of our employees is a top priority for us at Twitter. We continue to be engaged with the Government of India from a position of respect and have reached out to the Honourable Minister for formal dialogue. An acknowledgement to the receipt of the non-compliance notice has also been formally communicated.

We review every report we receive from the government as expeditiously as possible and take appropriate action regarding such reports while making sure we hold firm to our fundamental values and commitment to protecting the public conversation. An update is shared through our established channels of communication with the Government.

We strongly believe that the open and free exchange of information has a positive global impact and that the tweets must continue to flow.”