Do business, make money but follow Indian laws: Govt tells Twitter
New Delhi: Amid an intense controversy with Twitter over blocking of accounts, India on Thursday warned social media platforms of strict action for failure to crack down on inflammatory content, saying they have to fully comply with the country's law.
A day after his ministry rebuked Twitter for not complying with its orders to take down inflammatory content, Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said social media platforms cannot give differential treatment while handling problems on Capitol Hill and the Red Fort.
"Please don't spread enmity, violence and misinformation. Please follow the Constitution of India and the law of the land (otherwise we will be very strict)," he said. Prasad was speaking during Question Hour on the misuse of social media platforms.
The minister said the social media companies took immediate action when riots broke out at Capitol Hill in Washington but ignored similar action when farm bill protestors ran riot at Red Fort on Republic Day.
"This double standard would not work here," he said flagging inflammatory content, especially those with the hashtag of Modi planning farmers' genocide.
"Yeh kya mazak hai? (What kind of a joke is this?)," he said.
The Constitution of India guarantees Freedom of Speech but Article 19 (2) also says that it is subject to reasonable restrictions because of the 'sovereignty and integrity' of India.
Prasad said while social media platforms have their own self-regulatory mechanism to check and evaluate inflammatory content, that does not mean they will not follow the Indian rules.
Specifically naming Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn in the Rajya Sabha, the Union Minister said: "You have millions of followers in India, you are free to do business and make money, but you will have to follow the Indian Constitution."
He further added: "We respect social media a lot, it has empowered common people. Social media has a big role in Digital India programme. However, if social media is misused to spread fake news, violence then action will be taken."
