Twitter deliberately chose path of non-compliance despite multiple opportunities: Ravi Shankar Prasad

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said Twitter failed to comply with intermediary guidelines and has deliberately chosen the path of noncompliance despite being granted multiple opportunitiesLashing out at the microblogging platform over noncompliance Prasad said that it is astounding that Twitter that portrays itself as the flag bearer of free speech chooses the path of deliberate defiance when it comes to the Intermediary GuidelinesThere are numerous queries arising as to whether Twitter is entitled to safe harbour provision However the simple fact of the matter is that Twitter has failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines that came into effect from the May 26 Prasad said in a series of posts on homegrown microblogging platform KooThe minister also tweeted on the issuePrasad asserted that Twitter was given multiple opportunities to comply with the rules but deliberately chose the path of noncomplianceFurther what is perplexing is that Twitter fails to address the grievances of users by refusing to setting up process as mandated by the law of the land Additionally it chooses a policy of flagging manipulated media only when it suits its likes and dislikes he saidThe minister said that what happened in Uttar Pradesh was illustrative of Twitters arbitrariness in fighting fake newsWhile Twitter has been overenthusiastic about its factchecking mechanism its failure to act in multiple cases like UP is perplexing as well as points towards its inconsistency in fighting misinformation he saidIt is pertinent to mention that an FIR has been filed against Twitter over an incident in Ghaziabads Loni where an elderly man was allegedly assaultedPrasad said that Indian companies be it pharma or IT or others that go to do business in the US or in other countries overseas voluntarily follow the local lawsThen why are platforms like Twitter showing reluctance in following Indian laws designed to give voice to the victims of abuse and misuse the minister questionedThe culture of India varies like its large geography he said adding that in certain scenarios with the amplification of social media even a small spark can cause a fire especially with the menace of fake newsThis was one of the objectives of bringing the Intermediary Guidelines Prasad saidIn a major setback to Twitter the microblogging platform has lost its safe harbour protection in India over noncompliance with IT rules and failure to appoint key personnel mandated under the new guidelines despite repeated reminders and it will now be liable for action under Indian Penal Code for third party unlawful contentEarlier this month the government had given one last chance to Twitter to comply with the new IT rules that came into effect on May 26 and had issued a stern warning that failure to adhere to the norms will lead to the platform losing exemption from liability under the IT ActThe IT Ministry had questioned Twitter over not providing information about the Chief Compliance Officer as required under the rulesAlso the resident grievance officer and nodal contact person nominated by the company is not an employee of Twitter Inc in India as prescribed in the rules the ministry had flaggedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever