Govt notice to Twitter after it unblocks accounts over farm protests

The notice said that Twitter is an intermediary and is obliged to follow directions of the goverment

The Centre has asked Twitter to remove posts and accounts related to the 'farmer genocide' hashtag and threatened to take penal action if it failed to follow the direction.

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a fresh notice to Twitter after the micro-blogging platform reinstated a number of accounts posting about ‘farmer genocide’ despite the government's earlier directive to block them.

After the Centre's direction under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act on Monday morning, the US-based company had blocked several accounts including those that posted under #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide. Accounts belonging to the Kisan Ekta Morcha and Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), Aam Aadmi Party MLA Jarnail Singh and activist Hansraj Meena were blocked. However, many accounts were reinstated the same night.

Taking objection to Twitter unilaterally reinstating those accounts, the government told the social media firm that it is an intermediary which is obliged to obey the directions of the government. The refusal to do so will invite penal action, the Centre said.

Also read — Twitter 'withholds' accounts of farmer protesters, magazine among others, later restores them

The content posted under the hashtag was designed to inflame passions, hatred, create tensions, and was factually incorrect, the government said. “Incitement to genocide is not freedom of speech but a threat to law and order," it said.

The ministry insisted that Twitter cannot assume the role of the court and justify non-compliance. “Twitter cannot sit as an appellate authority over the satisfaction of the authorities about its potential impact on derailing public order. It is only an intermediary,” the notice said.