Under pressure, Twitter blocks 1,400 accounts flagged by govt over farmers' protest

Twitter has informed the government that as of now, only 35 accounts have not been blocked and the process of blocking these accounts is on

After the Indian government's recent warning, Twitter has blocked 1,400 accounts out of 1,435 accounts related to farmers' protest, which the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asked to block.

Now only 35 accounts have not been blocked and the process of blocking these accounts also on, Twitter informed the government, sources said.

Samajwadi Party MP Chaudhary Sukhram Singh Yadav in the Rajya Sabha on Friday demanded that the government should take action against social media platform Twitter for blocking his account.

Also read — Why Twitter should stick to its guns in India

Yadav said his Twitter account has been “withdrawn and blocked” despite no complaints as such.

This development came following the virtual meeting between the Secretary, Meity and Twitter officials on Wednesday night.

During the meeting, the Secretary warned Twitter that it has to follow the law of the land and ensure that fake news should not be spread to the platform.

Also read — Comply with laws in India, take strong action against campaigns aimed at creating unrest: Govt to Twitter

Twitter, as a business entity working in India, must also respect the Indian laws and democratic institutions. Twitter is free to formulate its own rules and guidelines like any other business entity does but Indian laws which are enacted by Parliament of India must be followed irrespective of Twitter’s own rules and guidelines, the Secretary told US-based company.

Agree to abide by the law

During the meeting, the Twitter official said they have started blocking accounts spreading fake news and agreed to block more such accounts.

They have also agreed to abide by Indian laws, the statement from the government said.

Also read — Twitter underlines free speech, caps some flagged accounts

For the past 2 weeks, there was a tussle between Twitter and the Miety over blocking of accounts.

The Meity has asked Twitter to block 1,435 accounts related to farmers' protest for the past two weeks. According to the government, these were handled by Kalistan and Pro-Pakisthan handlers and used to provoke protesting farmers.

However, Twitter was reluctant to block the entire list of accounts provided by the government citing the freedom of speech.