Social media content takedown illegal: Internet experts

The government got platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to remove 100 posts, many criticising its handling of the pandemic

On the Centre’s request, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter took down about 100 posts in India last week.

Twitter alone took down 52 posts. These included tweets by Congress MP Revanth Reddy, West Bengal minister Moloy Ghatak, actor Vineet Kumar Singh and filmmakers Vinod Kapri and Avinash Das.

The posts were critical of the government and some called for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Gurshabad Grover, senior researcher, Centre for Internet and Society, says Section 69A of the Information Technology Act of 2020 allows the government to issue directions to block any online content in the interest of “the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, (and) friendly relations with foreign States or public order…”.

The rules say the creator of the content in question be called for a hearing before a post is taken down. However, the government is not following its own rules. Many of those who posted critical content are prominent figures, and the government can’t claim that it couldn’t track them, he says.

Social media platforms have the option to negotiate takedown requests. However, historically, they have always complied with government requests, as their officials risk arrest if they fail to do so.

“In the recent past, as with the farmer’s protest, there have been instances of partial compliance, which is still a step in the right direction,” he says.

Akancha Srivastava, founder, Akancha Against Harassment, says the government has a point if the tweets are factually wrong and are triggering panic.

Transparency

The laws do not allow for transparency, says Grover. A confidentiality clause prevents the government orders from being viewed by the public.

RTI requests to reveal blocking orders have also been rejected in the past. As a result, there is no way for the public to know on what basis the government asked for a post to be censored.

A lot of such orders, however, are uploaded on the Lumen Database, he adds (see box).

Know your rights

In a post by Internet Freedom Foundation, its executive founder, Apar Gupta, says the police cannot arrest or threaten someone for Covid-related content.

“It is also not illegal to critique your government,” he explains.

“The posts are only asking for help and accountability.”

Possible steps

An aggrieved citizen has little by way of redressal, says Grover.

“You can try legal recourse if you are confident that your Constitutional right has been violated. However, this is not a feasible option for many,” he says.

Lumen Database

An American collaborative archive called the Lumen Database aims to protect lawful online activity from legal threats.

It collects and analyses legal complaints and requests for the removal of online materials in a bid to help Internet users know their rights. Last Saturday, Twitter had submitted a report to the Lumen Database about the action it had taken on 50 tweets over the past month. Some URLs whose access has now been blocked in India contained information about the second wave of the pandemic and were critical of the government’s handling of the same. A few showed pictures and videos of the recent Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarh that left as many as 22 police personnel dead.

A common phenomenon

Censorship of social media posts is not new in India. In February, at the height of the farmers’ protest, Twitter had withheld several accounts, including those of Caravan magazine and Kisan Ekta Morcha, an umbrella body of the protesters. The accounts were, however, restored hours later. Twitter had said its action was in response to a legal demand.

The Centre had also directed Twitter to block nearly 1,200 accounts with suspected links to Khalistan sympathisers or Pakistan days later.

The Lumen Database published the government orders that Twitter had complied with.

Deleted tweets

Congress’ MP Revanth Reddy had tweeted a picture of a mass cremation. He said the country’s healthcare system had collapsed.

West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak’s tweet criticised Modi for exporting vaccines. It included images of his election rallies, and compared him to Nero, the emperor who was fiddling when Rome was burning.

Gangs of Wasseypur-fame actor Vineet Kumar Singh’s tweet criticised shortage of medicines and the holding of political rallies amid the pandemic.

Director Vinod Kapri tweeted a video of a mass cremation accompanied by a comment that the promise to make more cremation grounds had been fulfilled. The tweet was in all likelihood a reference to Modi’s 2017 election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, when he had said Hindu cremation grounds were fewer in number than Muslim burial grounds.