Indian Government Pressures Twitter Over Criticism of COVID-19 Prevention Measures

Photo by The Guardian

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Amid rising public criticism over COVID-19 prevention failures, pressure on platforms like Twitter, which serve as channels for shaping local public opinion, is increasing, according to the British daily The Guardian.

According to the report, on the 24th (local time), Indian police visited Twitter's India office and notified that they had launched an investigation related to a case filed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The police stated the reason for the visit was "because Twitter's responses were ambiguous," but the media reported that this attitude by Indian authorities would put considerable pressure on Twitter amid rising tensions between the two sides, such as the Indian government requesting the deletion of about 1,000 accounts related to local farmers' protests.

Earlier, BJP officials shared several documents on Twitter last week, claiming that these documents were created by the main opposition party in the federal parliament, the Indian National Congress (INC), to expose the government's COVID-19 prevention failures.

In response, the INC protested to Twitter that the related documents were fake, and Twitter labeled posts by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and others as "manipulated media." Subsequently, the BJP filed a complaint against Twitter with the police, who then began an investigation.

Twitter has not yet issued an official statement regarding this matter.

In February, the Indian government introduced digital content mediation guidelines and ethical regulations. According to these regulations, social media companies like Twitter must remove related content within 36 hours upon receiving a legal request from the Indian government.

In cases of cybersecurity issues, the companies must support investigations within 72 hours upon government request. These regulations are scheduled to be enforced after a three-month grace period, starting on the 27th.

In India, criticism is mounting that the Narendra Modi government has been negligent in prevention efforts, increasing the risk of COVID-19 spread. The local daily new confirmed cases in India peaked at over 410,000 on the 7th and have since been declining.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.