Twitter is suing India’s government after more than a year of increasing tensions over the country’s far-reaching 2021 IT policy. According to a credible source, the company filed a case with the Karnataka High Court in Bangalore to contest a recent ruling to filter content within the country. Twitter said it has time until a specific day to block nearly a dozen accounts and content or face criminal charges. While the company followed the ruling, it is now seeking legal remedy.
Twitter has refused to respond. The challenge comes after the company apparently notified the Indian government this summer that it was in accordance with the country’s IT regulations. Twitter was required by law to appoint a domestic compliance officer and a point of contact for local authorities.
The company’s relationship with India had been rocky for much of 2021 up to that time. The government threatened its employees with jail time in February unless it removed posts relating to the farmer protests that took place that year. After two months, India asked Twitter to remove tweets criticizing the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recently, the government directed Twitter to restrict tweets from Freedom House, a non-profit group that claimed India was an example of a country where press freedom was deteriorating. “Freedom House is concerned that the Indian government ordered Twitter to restrict our tweets last year,” the organization stated. “We think that both governments and tech companies should uphold free expression, privacy and other fundamental freedoms.”
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