The showdown between the Centre and Twitter continued on Wednesday, with Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad turning down the microblogging platform’s request for a meeting with him.
The US-based company, meanwhile, claimed it has blocked 500 of the 1,400 handles the government had asked it to take down. The Centre had claimed that they were being used to incite people over the farmers’ protests. The social media giant, however, refused to block certain handles — mostly of activists, politicians and media.
The company’s decision not to fully comply with the order (which was announced in a blog) did not go down well with the government, which soon took to ‘Koo’ — touted as India’s alternative to Twitter.
"Upon the request of Twitter seeking a meeting with the government, Secretary IT was to engage with its senior management. In this light, a blog post published prior to the engagement is unusual. The government will share its response soon," the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) posted on Koo.
Earlier on Wednesday, Twitter India officials had tried to reach out to Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for a dialogue, but his office directed them to MeitY officials. Now, MeitY Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney is likely to lead the talks. He will meet Twitter’s Vice President of Global Public Policy through a video conference this week.
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By choosing Koo to respond, the government appears to send a message that if the US-based firm doesn't fall in line, it has a desi alternative ready.
Earlier, Twitter emphasised that it will continue to advocate for the right of free expression of its users and that it is “actively exploring options under Indian law — both for Twitter and for the accounts that have been impacted”.
Seeking to clarify its stance, Twitter said it had taken steps to reduce the visibility of hashtags containing harmful content.