Twitter complies with govt request, blocks 97% handles

There were signs of a thaw in Twitter’s tussle with the government after the social media giant took down over 97% of the handles that the IT ministry had sought to be censured for carrying “inflammatory content” related to farm protests such as ‘farmers’ genocide’ hashtag and accounts backed by Pakistan and Khalistan sympathisers.

Of the 1,435 handles flagged by the government through two separate requests, 1,398 have been taken down, top sources said on Thursday.

The breakthrough in the deadlock came after IT secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney’s meeting with Twitter executives Monique Meche and Jim Baker late Wednesday evening, following which the American social media giant started to act against the users.

“The compliance has come in for almost the entire list of accounts that we had asked to be taken down. For the remaining, Twitter has said that it is following due process, which includes sending notice to users and other such steps,” a government source told TOI.

All the 1,178 handles that the government had flagged for possible links with Khalistani and Pakistani elements have been blocked.

Of the 257 handles that were sought to be blocked over the controversial hashtag, 220 have been taken down. “Some of the accounts could be duplicates,” the source said. However, some accounts such as that of CPM leader Mohammed Salim (@salimdotcomrade) and Caravan magazine (@thecaravanindia) remain functional.

“We view this as a positive step that Twitter has taken. It does culminate from the meaningful and healthy conversations that we had with the global executives of the company,” the government source said.

A spokesperson for Twitter in India did not respond to a questionnaire from TOI.

While the social medial platform had earlier refused to comply with the government’s requests, on Wednesday, the IT secretary expressed displeasure over “differential treatment” by Twitter in its handling of the problems on Capitol Hill in the US and Red Fort in Delhi and insisted that “lawfully passed orders are binding” on any business entity.

“They must be obeyed immediately. If they are executed days later, it becomes meaningless,” Sawhney had said. He had also made it clear that the use of the controversial hashtag was neither journalistic freedom, nor freedom of expression as such “irresponsible content could provoke and inflame” the situation.

Sources said during the meeting, Baker, Twitter’s vice-president for legal matters, assured government representatives that the company would be mindful of the concerns. “Baker said that the global management of Twitter can be approached directly in case of violations that are sensitive in nature. This is seen as a massive reassurance to tackle hate, inflammatory and irresponsible messaging,” the government source said.