Twitter flags privacy concerns,  Centre  says firm ‘dictating terms’

Tensions between the Indian government and Twitter rose on Thursday after the social media giant said it was concerned by the use of “intimidation tactics” by the police and asked the government to respect freedom of speech.

The central government fumed at Twitter, accusing the company of trying to “dictate terms” to the country.

“Twitter Inc, a US-based private company, in its communique says it seeks ‘constructive dialogue’, ‘collaborative approach’ from the government of a sovereign democratic republic to ‘safeguard interests of the public’. It is time that Twitter disabuses itself of this grandiosity and complies with the laws of India,” the government said in a statement.

Twitter’s statement and the government’s response marked an escalation of tensions. The company’s statement came just days after a team of officers of the Delhi Police’s anti-terrorism and organized crime unit landed up at Twitter’s New Delhi and Gurugram offices to ask its officials to join an investigation as to why it tagged a controversial post by Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Sambit Patra as “manipulated media”.

“Right now, we are concerned by recent events regarding our employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people we serve. We, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules,” a Twitter spokesperson said.

The micro-blogging firm had earlier in the day said it plans to comply with India’s new IT Rules 2021. The firm’s statement came two days after Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp moved the Delhi high court to challenge the message traceability provision in the new rules.

The government termed the statement issued by Twitter as totally baseless, false and an attempt to defame India.

“The government also wishes to emphatically assure that representatives of social media companies, including Twitter, are and will always remain safe in India, and there is no threat to their personal safety and security,” it said in response to Twitter.

The San Francisco-based company said it will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law.

The company said it plans to advocate changes to elements of IT rules and would request the ministry of electronics and information technology to consider a minimum of three months extension for compliance. Meanwhile, it will continue to accept grievances from users and law enforcement agencies through its existing grievance redressal channel as per the new rules.“We plan to advocate for changes to elements of these regulations that inhibit free, open public conversation. We will continue our constructive dialogue with the Indian government and believe it is critical to adopt a collaborative approach,” said a Twitter spokesperson in the statement.

Social media platforms were given till 25 May to comply with the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, released in February. Among significant social media intermediaries, only homegrown Koo and the government’s MyGov have fully complied with the new rules, while Facebook said it requires time to discuss issues, which need more engagement with the government.

Under the rules, significant social media intermediaries (with a user base of above 5 million) are required to appoint a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person who will coordinate with law enforcement agencies and a resident grievance officer. All three have to be residents of India. They will have to take down posts depicting nudity or morphed photos within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.

Other than this, significant social media intermediaries will also be required to identify the “first originator” of “mischievous content” on messaging platforms, a move that has sparked fears of compromised user privacy online and possible attempt of state surveillance.

“It is the collective responsibility of elected officials, industry and civil society to safeguard the interests of the public,” said the Twitter spokesperson.

Twitter has expressed concern about the need to make an individual (the compliance officer) criminally liable for content on the platform, the requirements for proactive monitoring and the blanket authority to seek information about its customers. The company said it represents dangerous overreach that is inconsistent with open, democratic principles. It urged the IT ministry to publish these standard operating protocols (SOPs) on procedural aspects of compliance for public consultation.

“The intermediary rules are vague, undefined and prone to misuse. The constitutional design (Articles 14, 19 and 21) has clearly been ignored. It is rectifiable in a manner that can achieve the government’s wider aims. But the law, as it stands, needs to be pruned. If this is not rectified quickly—we risk a significant uptick in litigation around the issue,” said Mathew Chacko, partner at Spice Route Legal. Livemint