As Gzb cops press for physical questioning of Twitter MD, Rana gets transit anticipatory bail

Ghaziabad/Mumbai: As the Ghaziabad Police on Monday pressed to interrogate Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari physically over the video of a Muslim man being beaten up in Loni, effectively denying the latter's request for a virtual questioning, Washington Post columnist and journalist Rana Ayyub was granted transit anticipatory bail in the same case by the Bombay High Court.

After the press reported on the assault of the elderly man, which according to the victim and his family were motivated by his religious identity, the Ghaziabad police denied any communal angle in it. The victim and his family maintain their initial version.

However, the police had then registered a case against Twitter, Rana Ayyub, Saba Naqvi, The Wire and others for allegedly sharing content that was misleading. The FIR said Twitter had failed to stop these posts and issued notices to Maheshwari.

On Monday, Maheshwari, who lives in Bengaluru, responded and offered to join the probe via video call for the time being. He has assured of his cooperation with the police, Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad Rural) Iraj Raja said.

But the police have now said they are likely going to send another notice requesting his physical presence. And in this backdrop, the social media company on Monday "withheld" 50 tweets related to the assault and the sensitive video clip.

According to information on the Lumen database, Twitter received a legal request from the Indian government on June 17 for actioning 50 tweets. The first notice to Maheshwari was also sent on June 17. These tweets have been withheld and the content could not be independently verified.

According to sources, these tweets contained content related to the said video clip.

When contacted, a Twitter spokesperson said: As explained in our Country Withheld Policy, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in response to a valid legal demand or when the content has been found to violate local law(s).

The spokesperson noted that the withholdings are limited to the specific jurisdiction/country where the content is determined to be illegal.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, Rana Ayyub's lawyers argued before the Bombay High Court for transit anticipatory bail, which the court granted for four weeks, so that the petitioner may approach local courts in Uttar Pradesh.

The court was informed that after information related to the assault was doubted by police investigations, Rana had deleted the posts in question.

The seemingly extensive probe against Twitter over an incident with claimed communal overtones as UP is set to vote next year, comes in the middle of a fierce battle between the BJP-ruled Centre and the social media giant over the new IT Rules.

Twitter has drawn flak for failure to fully comply with the new IT rules, which mandates among other requirements, the appointment of three key personnel - chief compliance officer, nodal officer and grievance officer by social media platforms with over 50 lakh users. All three personnel have to be resident in India.

While the rules came into effect on May 26, Twitter is yet to adhere to the social media guidelines, despite repeated reminders from the government.

The government, last week, had slammed Twitter for deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the IT rules, which has led to the US giant losing its intermediary status in India and becoming liable for users posting any unlawful content.