Hours after taking over the charge as the new IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday shot off a stern warning to Twitter saying that the law of the land is supreme.
On his very first day in the Union Cabinet, speaking with the reporters after meeting BJP general secretary BL Santhosh at the party office in Delhi, Vaishnaw said whoever the citizen staying in India will have to abide by the protocols of the country.
The new IT minister’s warning comes amid a bitter row between Twitter and the Centre over the new IT rules that make social media websites more accountable for third-party content.
Earlier today Twitter told the Delhi High Court that it needs eight weeks time to appoint a grievance officer who is an Indian citizen. Twitter had previously appointed Dharmendra Chatur as its grievance officer but he stepped down just days later, leaving Twitter in violation of the rules and increasing pressure on the company.
In an earlier affidavit in Delhi High Court, Twitter had said it was in the final stages of hiring a grievance redressal officer. Earlier before this, the Centre had filed an affidavit in Delhi High Court stating that Twitter had failed to comply with the new IT Rules.
Vaishnaw’s predecessor, Ravi Shankar Prasad, were also engaged in a war with Twitter over non-compliance with the new IT rules for over a month.
The government and Twitter’s face-off began over orders seeking blocking of accounts that carried a controversial hashtag earlier this year.
India’s new IT rules which became effective end-May are aimed at regulating content on social media firms and making them more accountable to legal requests for swift removal of posts and sharing details on the originators of messages.
The new IT rules have faced criticism from experts and those concerned with the United Nations among those flagging potential human rights and freedom of speech issues.
In recent weeks, the police have filed at least five cases against the Twitter officials including some related to child pornography and a controversial map of India. However, three other cases have also been filed – one each in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, and another in UP against the Twitter and its officials.
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Ashwini Vaishnaw is one of several new ministers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new cabinet.