Centre orders blocking posts to 'prevent obstruction' | Economic Times

The government has directed social media platforms like Twitter to block close to 100 posts in order to "prevent obstructions" to the fight against the pandemic and escalation of crimes against public order, govt officials told ET. They said certain users were using social media platforms to spread fake or misleading information and create panic about the situation in India by using "unrelated, old and out of the context" images or visuals, communally sensitive posts and misinformation about the Covid-19 protocols.The government welcomes criticism, genuine requests for help as well as suggestions in the collective fight against Covid-19, but it is necessary to take action against those users who are misusing social media during this grave humanitarian crisis for unethical purposes, one of the people said.The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) ordered blocking of the posts on a recommendation from the Ministry of Home Affairs.On Saturday, it was reported that Twitter had removed around 50 tweets allegedly criticising the central government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic on MeitY’s instructions. These included tweets of Congress MP Revanth Reddy, West Bengal minister Moloy Ghatak, actor Vineet Kumar Singh and two filmmakers, Vinod Kapri and Avinash Das, according to a post by tech portal Medianama.Industry insiders said orders were issued under the emergency blocking powers and therefore had to be complied with immediately. However, platforms like Twitter are in discussions with the government and are conducting their own internal review to decide whether to keep them blocked, they said.“Only the particular tweets have been blocked, that too in India and the full accounts have not been impacted this time around,” said a person in the know.When Twitter gets a legal request, the company reviews it under both its own rules and local law, a spokesperson for the platform told ET. “If the content violates Twitter’s rules, the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only. In all cases, we notify the account holder directly so they’re aware that we’ve received a legal order pertaining to the account.”The move has been criticised on social media with people commenting that instead of dealing with the huge Covid-19 crisis, the government was focussing on blocking tweets.According to reports, some pages on Facebook and its Instagram platform have also been impacted, but the company did not respond to queries from ET seeking details.Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera has served a legal notice on union minister for electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad and Twitter India for withholding of his tweet on Kumbh Mela and Tablighi Jamaat. Digital rights Think tank Internet Freedom Foundation tweeted saying India would not be "silenced and censored". “We will continue demanding transparency, accountability and coordinating for emergency relief. For our right to speech — and today, our lives!,” it tweeted."In this terrible time in which Indians are searching for emergency care, coordinating help and demanding government accountability we have come across disturbing reports of social media censorship. We condemn it and ask for clarity from government departments," it said.Officials said some tweets were blocked as they were declaring Covid-19 as a conspiracy and urging people not to follow Covid-19 protocols such as wearing a mask. Other posts were showing old pictures of patients and dead bodies to create panic while some were trying to create communal disharmony by inciting religious passions, they said.“When the entire country is putting up a brave and honest effort to fight against Covid-19 pandemic, certain people are misusing social media to create panic in the society,” said an official.Twitter, meanwhile, has updated its policy on misleading Covid-19 information which deals with misleading information about vaccines. Since March 1, Twitter has been labelling or placing a warning on tweets that spread rumours, disputed claims, as well as incomplete or out-of-context information about vaccines. Tweets which advance harmful false or misleading narratives about Covid-19 vaccinations are being removed.