Tweets must continue to flow: Twitter responds to Centre's notice

Embroiled in a controversy vis-à-vis the ongoing farmers' protest, Twitter has responded to the Indian government's latest notice, stating that the safety of its employees was a top priority for the company.

The Centre, on Monday, issued a fresh notice to Twitter directing it to block 1,178 accounts linked to farmers' protest, saying that those accounts were operated by Khalistan sympathisers and backed by Pakistan. The Centre also alleged that the accounts posted objectionable content.

An NDTV report stated that the social media giant had reached out to Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for a formal dialogue and said that it had acknowledged getting the non-compliance notice from the government. Twitter's response came less than 24 hours after the notice was issued.

Read: 'Playing with fire': Twitter's India's government order snub sparks debate on free speech, compliance

"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," the publication quoted a Twitter spokesperson as saying.

Despite repeated warning to Twitter to remove some of accounts, the US-based company had failed to comply, said a the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology official on Monday.

"We strongly believe that the open and free exchange of information has a positive global impact, and that the tweets must continue to flow," a company spokesperson said.

Read: Farmers' protest: An insecure, paranoid govt

The government was also not happy with Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey's decision to 'like' some of the tweets made in support of the farmers' protests and was of the view that such an act by Dorsey raises questions over the neutrality of the micro-blogging platform.

Dorsey had liked a few tweets which supported international singer Rihanna's stand on the ongoing farmers' protest against the new farm laws.

Twitter had earlier suspended over 550 accounts from its platform in reference to the violence during the farmers' tractor rally against the farm laws in the national capital on Republic Day.