The Central government has issued a notice to Twitter after the microblogging platform reinstated several accounts that the government wanted blocked. Twitter which initially complied with the request and blocked accounts and tweets that mentioned 'farmer genocide', later reinstated the content, reportedly saying that it "constituted free speech and was newsworthy."
The government's initial order on January 31 asked Twitter to block 257 URLs and one hashtag, claiming that they were spreading misinformation about the ongoing farmers protest and could lead to violence. The accounts that were blocked as a result included Caravan India, a news magazine. The order had cited Section 69A of the Information technology Act in calling for the content to be blocked. How exactly does the IT Act empower the government to order intermediaries such as social media platforms and Internet Service Providers to block content? And what are the consequences for platforms like Twitter if they fail to comply. To explain these we have with us today Apar Gupta, lawyer and executive director of the Internet Freedom Foundation
Host: P.J. George, Deputy Internet Editor, The Hindu