Twitter to review Centre's certain content removal orders

New Delhi: Twitter, the micro-blogging social media platform, will apply for judicial review on some Indian government orders to take down content from the site, alleging the government's abuse of power, Reuters reported citing a source with knowledge of the matter.

Last year, the platform was asked to remove content that supported an independent Sikh state, alleged misinformation posts on farmers' protests and content criticizing the government on its failure in handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier, the Centre had said that Twitter, along with other social media platforms, has not implemented the removal requests though they are legally bound to. In June, the Centre warned Twitter of criminal proceedings if it did comply with its orders. The platform complied this week to not lose liability exemptions available as a host of content.

Though the source did not specify which orders Twitter wanted to review, it said that Twitter has argued in its review request that certain removal orders have no sufficient procedural requirements as per the Indian IT Act- which empowers the government to block the public's access to content citing national security. Further, it argues that the Centre failed to give notice to authors of certain taken down content. Blocking of content posted by some political parties was a violation of freedom of speech, Twitter added.

Tensions with the Indian government flared early last year when Twitter declined to fully comply with an order to take down accounts and posts which New Delhi alleged were spreading misinformation about anti-government protests by farmers.

After Twitter refused to comply with certain removal orders by the Centre last year, tensions between the two increased. The company was subjected to police probes in India, while some Indian ministers migrated to the indigenous platform Koo.

Also, Twitter faced severe backlash after blocking the handles of many influential individuals in India due to violations of policies.

Industry transparency reports pointed out that India is among those who made the highest number of content removal requests. The Indian government is considering more amendments to IT rules, which includes the induction of a state-run appeals panel with powers to reverse the content moderation decisions of social media firms. The Union government justified the need for such measures claiming that the social media platforms violated the constitutional rights of Indian citizens.