NEW DELHI: Calling an "outright lie'', the Centre has strongly responded to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey's allegations that the Indian government exerted a lot of 'pressure' on the micro-blogging platform to 'block' certain accounts during the farmers’ protest. Union Minister of State for Electronics & Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar termed the allegation as an 'outright le' adding that 'no one went to jail nor was Twitter shutdown'. The Union Minister went on to state that the Twitter regime under Dorsey had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law.
"This is an outright lie by @jack - perhaps an attempt to brush out that very dubious period of twitters history," the minister said in the tweet.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar also pointed to some 'Facts and truth' about Twitter and said, "@twitter under Dorsey n his team were in repeated n continuous violations of Indian law. As a matter of fact, they were in non-compliance with the law repeatedly from 2020 to 2022 and it was only June 2022 when they finally complied. No one went to jail nor was Twitter "shutdown"."
This is an outright lie by @jack - perhaps an attempt to brush out that very dubious period of twitters history
Facts and truth@twitter undr Dorsey n his team were in repeated n continuous violations of India law. As a matter of fact they were in non-compliance with law… https://t.co/SlzmTcS3Fa
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@Rajeev_GoI) June 13, 2023
Jack Dorsey Alleges Pressure From Indian Govt
The response from the Centre came after former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, in an exploratory remark, claimed that India had put pressure on the micro-blogging platform, including giving threats of winding it down and conducting raids on employees` homes. During an interview with YouTube channel Breaking Points late on Monday, Dorsey said that the threats came as Twitter refused to comply with the government`s demands to block accounts during the farmers` protests in early 2021.
"We would raid the homes of your employees`, which they did; We will shut down your offices if you don`t follow suit. And this is India, a democratic country," Dorsey said on the channel when asked to share some examples of pressure from foreign governments during his tenure before Elon Musk took over.
"India is a country that had many requests of us around the farmers` protest, around particular journalists that were critical of the government, and it manifested in ways such as `we will shut Twitter down in India`, which is a very large market for us," Dorsey further said.
Last year, Twitter told the Karnataka High Court that it was asked to completely block numerous multiple accounts during the farmers` agitation on the borders of Delhi in 2021. Twitter, in its petition before the High Court, maintained that blocking orders by the Union government violates the rights of users under the Constitution. The petition also describes the move of the government as arbitrary and in violation of Section 69 A of the IT Act.
The Central government maintained that the blocking orders were issued in the national and public interest, and action was taken to prevent lynching and mob violence.
Congress Hits Out At Centre Over Twitter 'Raids'
Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday mounted pressure on the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre over the former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey`s remarks and asked if the Narendra Modi government will answer.
In a tweet, Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Modi government forced Twitter to shut down accounts of farmers and farmer`s movement, shut down accounts of journalists critical of government or Twitter and its employees would be raided. This is what Twitter Co-Founder and Ex CEO Jack Dorsey admits in a TV interview. Will Modi Government answer?"
The Youth Congress and National Students` Union of India also took to Twitter to share the clip of Dorsey`s claim which he made during an interview to the YouTube channel Breaking Points on Monday.
NSUI president Neeraj Kundan in a tweet said, "BJP is the killer of democracy, it is being proved again and again. This is Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter. Here he is saying `During farmer protest Indian government pressurised us and said we will shut down Twitter, and raid the homes of your employees if you don`t follow suite`."
Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV took a swipe at the government and said, "Mother of Democracy - Unfiltered." "During farmer protest, Modi govt pressurized us and said we will shut down your offices, raid your employees` homes, which they did if you don`t follow suit - Jack Dorsey, former Twitter CEO," Srinivas wrote on Twitter attaching the video clip of Dorsey`s interview.
Even Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) faction leader Priyanka Chaturvedi slammed the BJP and said, "The BJP and the government tried to crush the farmers' protest, they tried to defame the movement, they called farmers terrorists, they called farmers anti-national, they lathi-charged the farmers, they let farmers die, they tried to silence the opposition in parliament, they tried to arm-twist social media platforms to mute the voices of those supporting the farmers... but despite their might, despite their power, the farmers humbled their arrogance and forced the government to withdraw the farmers act. Indian democracy or rule of Modiocracy?"
Farmers from several states staged protests at the borders of Delhi for over a year from November 2020. Prime Minister Narendra Modi admitted the failure in convincing the farmers and appealed to them to call off their year-long protest. In the winter session of Parliament, the three laws were withdrawn.
