Centre asks Twitter to remove 1,178 Pakistani-Khalistani accounts over spreading 'misinformation' on farm stir

Earlier, the Centre had asked Twitter to remove posts and accounts related to the 'farmer genocide' hashtag

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

These accounts were flagged by security agencies. In the notice to Twitter, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) said some of the accounts were used to propagate misinformation on the farmers' protest.

Despite repeated warning to Twitter to remove some of accounts, the US-based company failed to comply, said a Meity official.

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

Also Read | Government doubts Twitter 'neutrality' after CEO Dorsey likes pro-farmer protests tweets

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

Reacting to the government notice, micro-blogging platform said, “Twitter is guided by principles of transparency and empowering the public conversation. If we receive a valid legal request about potentially illegal content on Twitter, we review it under the Twitter Rules and local law. If the content violates Twitter’s Rules, the content will be removed from the service."

The government and Twitter are at loggerheads after the government asked Twitter to remove over 1,000 accounts for spreading misinformation and provocative content on the farmers' agitation for the past 10 days.

Though initially Twitter blocked around 250 accounts, these accounts were restored soon after. However objecting to the unilateral restoration, the Ministry Electronics and Information Technology issued a notice to Twitter and warned to take penal action if it failed to block "provocative” Twitter hashtags such as "#ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide" and dozens of other accounts.