'Relationship with platforms not adversarial... This is part of Dorsey’s fiction': Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The Karnataka High Court earlier today rejected Twitter Inc’s plea which contested the blocking orders issued last year by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. The orders were issued against a few tweets and handle related to the farmer’s protest and the pandemic. When asked to comment on the verdict and whether this was a win for the Indian government, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the government of India isn’t in adversary to social media platforms, so there can’t be a question of a win or a loss. India is not in an adversarial relationship with any platform “I don’t see this in favour of the government or against the government. Our relationship with the platforms is not adversarial. We have only insisted that our laws are followed and complied with,” Minister Chandrasekhar told reporters. Twitter had been sent a number of takedown instructions, which they failed to comply with initially. After sending repeated notices, Twitter took down some of the tweets and accounts but not all of the. When they were sent a legal notice to comply, Twitter decided to take their chances with India’s legal system. “In this particular case, they (Twitter) were given a large number of directions under the law which they did not comply with. When they were sent a legal notice, they chose to go to the courts,” said Chandrasekhar. Jack Dorsey’s Tale “This is part of the fiction that Mr Dorsey had put out. We have always maintained that despite repeated non-compliance by this platform (Twitter), the government did very little to them, except send them notices and remind them to comply,” said Chandrasekhar. Shortly before Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US, where he had a meeting with Twitter’s current owner Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder and former CEO, made some controversial remarks. In an interview, Dorsey alleged that the Government of India had issued threats to take action against Twitter and its staff in India if the platform did not suppress tweets related to the farmer’s protest as well as tweets from certain opposition leaders and journalists. In response, IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar launched a fierce criticism against Dorsey, accusing him of not only lying but also showing a lack of respect for India’s sovereignty and its laws. Non-compliance is not an option Elaborating further on the verdict, Minister Chandrasekhar stated that the verdict is a clear indication to platforms in India, irrespective of their size, ownership, users or corporate base, non-compliance is not an option. “I am very glad that the Hon’ble Court has today laid down very clearly that non-compliance is not an option, regardless of where your jurisdiction is or who you think you’re owner is. Platforms in India, big or small, Indian or foreign, will have to comply with Indian law.” Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook_,_  Twitter and  Instagram_._