Social media giant Twitter is no longer an intermediary platform in India as it didn’t comply with new IT rules, and has lost its legal protection from prosecution over users’ posts, said the government sources on Wednesday.
On Tuesday night, a case has been filed in Uttar Pradesh against the social media giant over tweets on an assault that the police say attempted to incite communal trouble. According to the sources in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, due to their non-compliance to new IT rules, Twitter’s protection as an intermediary has gone. It will be liable for penal actions against the content when it comes to being violative of any Indian law.
The FIR filed against Twitter, along with the journalists and Congress leaders, alleged that tweets by the accused had been broadcast on a large scale. The accused and other people tried to create animosity between Hindus and Muslims, attempting to destroy communal harmony. The social media platform has been accused of not removing misleading content linked to the incident.
The elderly man who was assaulted, identified as Sufi Abdul Samad, alleged that he was forced to chant “Vande Matram” and “Jai Shri Ram” by a group that assaulted him and cut off his beard. However, the UP police said he was lying, that it was not a communal incident as implied in tweets but the man was attacked by six men who were upset over amulets he had sold them.
The UP police have invoked IPC sections 153 (provocation for rioting), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295A (acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 505 (mischief), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) them. The accused are Congress’s Salman Nizami, Shama Mohamed and Maskoor Usmani, writer Saba Naqvi, online media organisation The Wire, and Twitter Inc and Twitter Communications India Pvt and journalists Mohammed Zubair and Rana Ayyub for inciting communal sentiments with posts sharing the man’s allegations.
Meanwhile, Twitter is the only tech platform that has not complied with rules that require major digital platforms to appoint India-based officers including a Chief Compliance Officer. However, Twitter on Tuesday said it has appointed an interim Chief Compliance Officer and the details of the official will be shared directly with the IT Ministry soon.
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The development came after the government had given one last chance to Twitter to comply with the new IT rules. Later, the government source has said, Twitter’s communication in the media is very vague. If it has appointed anyone, the person’s name should be shared. Who is that person?