Ex-Twitter CEO Says Indian Govt. Threatened To Shut Down Twitter During Farmer Protest

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey reiterates huge allegations against the Indian government under Narendra Modi. He said the Indian government ordered Twitter to block accounts and remove posts related to farmer’s protests, or else, the social media platform to face a shut down and raids of Twitter India employees’ homes.

“Indian Govt. Said We Will Shut Down Twitter”

However, the Indian government completely denied these allegations, calling it an “outright lie.” According to the Indian government, Jack Dorsey and his Twitter team repeatedly violated Indian laws and failed to comply from 2020 to 2022. Misinformation and fake news on social media platforms like Twitter ignited violence during the protests.

Former IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said:

“At the time, Twitter didn’t comply with Indian laws. It is clear that all social media platforms are respected in India but they have to abide by the law of the land.”

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar slams Jack Dorsey, revealing no one was raided or sent to jail. Twitter operated normally and was never shut down. The social media platform only complied in June 2022 after similar events happened in the U.S.

Twitter restored blocked accounts after a few hours, claiming block accounts belonging to media companies, journalists, activists, and politicians violates their fundamental right to free expression.

Freedom of Speech on Twitter

Twitter under Elon Musk aims to promote and protect free speech and the rights of people. Elon Musk said Twitter can’t uphold freedom of speech in India. On Monday, Twitter’s new CEO Linda Yaccarino made her first public comment, laying out her focus on freedom of speech.

However, Twitter has taken some crucial steps to ensure privacy and content moderation. Twitter under Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey is completely different. Jack Dorsey’s allegations have caused a debate on freedom of speech in India.

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