Will strive to comply with India's IT and social media guidelines: Twitter

Twitter has asked three more months to fully comply with the India's IT and social media guidelines.

Twitter on Thursday (May 27) said that it will strive to comply with India's new IT and social media guidelines while committing to protect freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law.

The new guidelines came into effect on Wednesday (May 26).

“Twitter is deeply committed to the people of India. Our service has proven vital for public conversation and a source of support for people during the pandemic. To keep our service available, we will strive to comply with applicable law in India. But, just as we do around the world, we will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law," Twitter Spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also added Twitter is concerned by the recent events. Delhi Police on Monday (May 24) entered the company's premises to serve the notice over the 'toolkit' case and sought assistance in the investigation.

Recently, the Centre had objected to Twitter using the “Manipulated Media” tag for national spokesperson Sambit Patra's tweets on the 'toolkit' allegedly used by Congress to defame the Modi government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Right now, we are concerned by recent events regarding our employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people we serve. We, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules. We plan to advocate for changes to elements of these regulations that inhibit free, open public conversation. We will continue our constructive dialogue with the Indian Government and believe it is critical to adopt a collaborative approach. It is the collective responsibility of elected officials, industry, and civil society to safeguard the interests of the public,” Twitter Spokesperson added.

Also read: Twitter says concerned about India staff safety after police visit

The Indian government, earlier in the year in February, released new guidelines for social media platforms. It asked companies such as Facebook and Twitter to appoint compliance officers in India. Also, the firms have to hire grievance officers and are obligated to receive, acknowledge and resolve complaints within a month.

Now, Twitter is asking for three more months to fully comply with the new guidelines set by the Indian government. Also, the company has urged the Ministry of Electronics and IT to publish these Standard Operating Protocols on procedural aspects of compliance for public consultation.

Furthermore, the company noted that it already accepts grievances from users and law enforcement via its existing grievance redressal channel available here under the new rules.