Twitter failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & IT and Law & Justice, has lambasted Twitter for having failed to comply with the intermediary guidelines which were issued by the government on May 26th. Microblogging platform Twitter has lost its status as an intermediary platform in India as it does not comply with new IT rules, informed government sources on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad speaking about Twitter having lost its status as an intermediary platform in India said that the microblogging site had failed to comply with the laws despite having been provided multiple opportunities. "Indian companies, be it pharma, IT or others, that go to do business in the US or in other foreign countries, voluntarily follow the local laws. Then, why are platforms like Twitter showing reluctance in following Indian laws designed to give voice to the victims of abuse and misuse? There are numerous queries arising as to whether Twitter is entitled to safe harbour provision. However, the simple fact of the matter is that Twitter has failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines that came into effect from the 26th of May (sic)," the Union Minister tweeted.

On June 5, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had issued Twitter a final notice asking it to comply with the new rules concerning social media companies. In its reply, Twitter stated that it had written to the government saying that efforts were being made to comply with new guidelines concerning social media companies and it had appointed a nodal contractual person (NCP) and a resident grievance officer (RGO) on a contractual basis. It said it was in advanced stages of "finalising the appointment to the role of a chief compliance officer".

Tweets by Ravi Shankar Prasad

Read:Twitter loses its status as intermediary platform in India due to non-compliance with new IT rules

Prasad also questioned Twitter's failure and inconsistency in fighting misinformation citing the Loni incident, in which a man was thrashed and his beard was chopped off. "What happened in UP was illustrative of Twitter’s arbitrariness in fighting fake news. While Twitter has been over-enthusiastic about its fact-checking mechanism, its failure to act in multiple cases like UP is perplexing & indicates its inconsistency in fighting misinformation (sic)," Prasad tweeted.

An elderly man was brutally thrashed by few miscreants who chopped off his beard at an isolated location in Ghaziabad's Loni area. Ghaziabad Police has filed FIR against nine entities, including Twitter India, over the incident.

Read:UP Police file FIR against Twitter, others over Loni incident