Stop beating aound the bush, comply with law of land: Centre to Twitter

After Twitter today said it was concerned over the "potential threat to freedom of expression" and "core elements" of the new digital rules, the government retorted that the social media site should "stop beating around the bush and comply with the laws of the land" instead of "dictating terms" to the world's largest democracy.The Centre on Thursday lashed out at Twitter, saying its statement on the country's new IT rules is an attempt to dictate its terms to the world’s largest democracy. Twitter is just a social media platform and it has no locus in dictating what India's legal policy framework should be, the Ministry of Electronics and IT said in a detailed takedown, denouncing Twitter's statement as "totally baseless, false and an attempt to defame India". The strongly-worded statement said that the only instance of scuttling free speech on Twitter is Twitter itself and its opaque policies. "As a result of this, people’s accounts are suspended and tweets deleted arbitrarily without recourse."

Twitter said it is deeply committed to the people of India. It said, the service has proven vital for the public conversation and a source of support for people during the pandemic. To keep the service available, Twitter will strive to comply with applicable law in  India. In a statement,Twitter said, just as the company does around the world, Twitter 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. The statement said, it is the collective responsibility of elected officials, industry, and civil society to safeguard the interests of the public.