India asks Twitter to take down tweets criticising the Modi-led government for its handling of the coronavirus situation
India is reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, with over 2,000 succumbing to the virus daily over the past few days and thousands contracting the infection.
However, the Indian government seems more occupied with stifling criticism and gagging voices on social media.
Unable to withstand criticism, the Indian government has written to Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, seeking to remove posts that condemn its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, alleging that some of them were misleading and may lead to a rise in panic among the masses.
A Twitter spokesperson also confirmed it received a valid legal request from the Indian government. "If the content violates Twitter's Rules, the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only," said the Twitter official.
"The legal requests that we receive are detailed in the biannual Twitter Transparency Report, and requests to withhold content are published on Lumen."
Sources said the Indian government flagged several posts and content on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other websites on Friday.
Acting on the complained, Twitter has removed more than 50 tweets that criticised the Indian government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The censored tweets and accounts include ones owned by a sitting member of India’s Parliament, two filmmakers, an actor, and a West Bengal state minister.
The move has earned rebuke and criticism on social media platforms, with most people wondering where the Indian government's priorities lie at a time when, as per some estimates, one Indian is dying from the coronavirus in four minutes in Delhi alone.