‘Law of land is supreme, Twitter must follow rule,’ says new IT Minister

Echoing his predecessor’s thoughts on the subject, newly appointed Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said Twitter must follow IT Rules.

Taking oath at the Ministry on Thursday morning, Vaishnaw said, “Law of land is supreme, Twitter must follow rule.”

The 51-year old took charge as the IT, Communications and Railways minister on Thursday, a day after the Cabinet reshuffle.

His predecessor, Ravi Shankar Prasad, who took over as the IT minister in 2014, resigned on Wednesday after a seven-year stint. One of his most consistent messages to big technology firms was to follow the law of the land.

Vaishnaw, a member of Parliament since 2019, studied Masters in Technology at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1992-94, and went on to get a Masters in Business Administration in Finance from The Wharton School in 2008-10.

He was the Collector of Cuttack in 2001-03, a Deputy secretary in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Prime Minister Office from 2003-04, Deputy chairman at the Mormugao Port Trust, Goa (December 2006-08).

His extensive experience in the public and private sector has been seen as the reason for choosing him to head the three important portfolios. Business Standard