Indian govt. orders Twitter to block 1,178 accounts; Know Twitter response

On Monday, Twitter responded to the Indian government's directive to remove 1,178 Pak-Khalistani identifiers for posting provocative content about the farmers' protest.

"Twitter is guided by principles of transparency and empowering the public conversation. If we receive a valid legal request about potentially illegal content on Twitter, we review it under the Twitter Rules and local law. If the content violates Twitter's Rules, the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in the location only. In all cases, we notify the account holder directly, so they're aware we've received a legal order pertaining to the account. Our goal is to respect local law while protecting our foundational principles of free expression," said a Twitter spokesperson in a statement.

As per Twitter, the company reviews legal requests for signs that they may be seeking to restrict freedom of expression. Additionally, he said the company takes special care to review proposals related to journalists or contain political speeches or newsworthy content.

The government asked Twitter to remove more than 1,000 accounts for spreading misinformation and provocative content about the farmers' unrest.

According to The Hindu report, these accounts were flagged by security agencies. Some of the accounts were automated bots used to spread misinformation about the protest, the information added.

The report further said that Twitter had yet to comply with the order. The list was delivered to the company on February 4.

Twitter has found itself at odds with the Indian government after the company refused to comply with the directive to block more than 250 accounts and posts. Amid ongoing farmer protests in India, the government had sought an "emergency block" of "provocative" Twitter hashtags such as "#ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide" and dozens of accounts, Reuters reported.

Twitter initially complied with the directive but later restored most of the accounts, citing "insufficient justification" for extending the suspension. Following this, the government warned the company of "legal consequences" that could lead to fines or jail time.

Twitter's public policy director for India and South Asia, Mahima Kaul, also resigned from her post. She will continue with the role until the end of March.

India, like other Internet companies, is an important market for Twitter. Our country has nearly 700 million internet users, according to internet tracker firm Statista. India is also one of the top three markets for Twitter.