Microblogging site Twitter on Wednesday said it has withheld some of the accounts flagged by the Indian government for blocking ”within India only”, but has not blocked handles of civil society activists, politicians and media as ”it would violate their fundamental right to free expression” guaranteed under country’s law.

Twitter emphasised that it will continue to advocate for the right of free expression of its users and that it is actively exploring options under Indian law both for Twitter and for the accounts that have been impacted.

The microblogging platform had been asked by the government to take down multiple accounts that were sharing misinformation and provocative content around the ongoing farmers’ agitation. It had also been warned of penal action for non-compliance.

Seeking to clarify its stance, Twitter – in a blogpost – said it had taken steps to reduce visibility of the hashtags containing harmful content that included prohibiting them from trending on Twitter and appearing as recommended Search terms.

Twitter has also informed the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) of its enforcement action. Twitter noted that it has taken a range of enforcement actions against more than 500 accounts escalated across all MeitY orders – including permanent suspension in certain cases for violation of Twitter rules. …Today, we have withheld a portion of the accounts identified in the blocking orders under our Country Withheld Content policy within India only. These accounts continue to be available outside of India, Twitter said.

It, however, did not provide details of the handles against whom action had been taken.

Emphasising that it believes transparency to be the foundation to promoting healthy public conversation on the platform and to earn trust, Twitter said it is critical that people understand its approach to content moderation and how it engages with governments globally.

Twitter said, following the reports of violence in New Delhi in recent weeks, it wanted to share a granular update on its proactive efforts to enforce its rules and defend its principles in India. Starting January 26, Twitter said its global team took enforcement action judiciously and impartially on content, trends, Tweets, and accounts that were in violation of its rules and took action on hundreds of accounts that violated its policy framework.

The government, on February 4, had ordered Twitter to block 1,178 accounts with links to Pakistan and Khalistan supporters that were spreading misinformation and provocative content on farmers’ protest.

Meanwhile, Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has turned down the request for a meeting with Twitter, government sources informed CNBC-TV18.

Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) Secretary is likely to lead talks, who will be meeting VP of Global Public Policy of Twitter through video conferencing This meeting is likely to take place this week, sources said.

The government had warned of a 7-year jail term in case of non-compliance with directions for blocking the red-flagged account.

Twitter on Tuesday had reached out to IT Minister Prasad for a formal dialogue to resolve the deadlock over the removal of bad accounts amid the ongoing farmer protests.

-With PTI inputs

First Published:Feb 10, 2021 11:38 AM IST