Centre free to take action against Twitter for any breach of IT rules: HC; new IT minister says those who live and work in India must abide by its rules

The Delhi High Court on Thursday told the Centre it was free to take action against Twitter Inc in case of any breach of the new IT Rules and that no interim protection was granted, even as the new IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said those who live and work in India will have to abide by the rules of the country.

Locked in a standoff with the Central government over the new Information Technology (IT) Rules, Twitter Inc, meanwhile, informed the High Court it has appointed an interim chief compliance officer, who is a resident of India, and said it will make an “endeavour” to fill the regular position within eight weeks as per the rules. The court granted two weeks time to the microblogging platform to file an affidavit, notarised in the United States, on compliance with the new rules.