Twitter pushes back against India’s social media control

Twitter pushing back

Earlier this week, Indian police raided Twitter’s offices in Delhi after moderators refused to remove a ‘manipulated media’ tag from tweets by a governmental spokesperson.

The post in question included a series of screenshots showing what the ruling party BJP claimed to be forged documents created by rival party Congress – highlighting the government’s failure in handling the surge of Covid-19.

With little basis for these claims, Twitter believes the bullish approach from officials and law enforcement to be ‘intimidation tactics’ and are becoming increasingly concerned about what a new ruling could mean.

Specifically, it labelled proposed governmental access to user data as a ‘dangerous overreach that is inconsistent with open, democratic principles.’

Tensions between the Indian government and Twitter had been bubbling for some time prior to this incident. Earlier in the year, Twitter blocked several nationalist figureheads in India for breaching its terms and conditions re inciting content, but reinstated them all after incessant pressure from government.

‘We will continue our constructive dialogue with the Indian government and believe it is critical to adopt a collaborative approach,’ stated a Twitter spokesperson.

‘It is the collective responsibility of elected officials, industry, and civil society to safeguard the interests of the public.’

Letter to Delhi Police Commissioner by INC Social Media Department Chairman Shri @rohanrgupta & Research Department Chairman Shri @rajeevgowda on the forgery & fraud document shared on social media platforms by BJP leaders. pic.twitter.com/AbXEv7LuSz

— Congress (@INCIndia) May 27, 2021

India’s track record

Frankly speaking, 2021 has been a public relations nightmare for India and big tech in the eyes of the west.

Having banned TikTok for supposedly endorsing anti-government content, state leaders are still embroiled in an information war against young climate activists, and are clambering to save face over unprecedented outbreaks of Covid-19 across the country.

Back in March, we covered a story on Disha Ravi and how a simple clicktivism act landed the 22-year-old activist in a Delhi jail.

Aiming to show solidarity with local farmers whose livelihoods were being threatened by abrupt government reform, she shared a list of resources with petitions to sign. The sort of thing we do every day on the Thred Discord.

It was when officials labelled this act as ‘sedition, incitement, dissemination, and conspiracy against the state,’ that the story started gaining attention and people began looking into the alarming role of big tech in India.

All key ‘evidence’ against Ravi came in the form of everyday digital tools like WhatsApp messages, Google Docs, and private Zoom meetings which were willingly handed to government officials by the giants of Sillicon Valley.

Months later, and it seems as though many of these giants are still complicit of the human rights violations they prohibit in company small print.

Suffice to say, the credibility of many big social media platforms now hangs in the balance. Let’s see if Twitter is soon to join TikTok.