Not possible to uphold freedom of speech in India: Musk

New York: Given a choice, Elon Musk claims he doesn't want any censorship and would give full freedom to users to post anything on Twitter. But that's not possible within the Indian Twitter space, he said in an interview to BBC. The Twitter boss said that since social media rules are extremely strict in India, it's not possible for the microblogging site to offer the same freedom of speech to Indian users that it does in the US and other Western countries.

He further said that if Twitter doesn't comply with rules, its employees in India will land in jail. "The rules in India for what can appear on social media are quite strict, and we can't go beyond the laws of a country… if we have a choice of either our people go to prison, or we comply with the laws, we'll comply with the laws," Musk said in the interview conducted on Twitter Spaces.

The two-part series 'India: The Modi Question', which questions then-Gujarat CM Modi's role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, has been banned by the government.

Musk, who didn't elaborate on Indian laws he was referring to, said he was not aware of the specific details about the documentary.

Although Musk talks about upholding free speech, some of his actions since he acquired Twitter last October haven't matched his views. Twitter has censured and blocked content on several instances, including posts related to India.