Govt strikes: Twitter loses intermediary status

Twitter has lost its intermediary status in India for not complying with the new Information Technology Rules which came into force from May 26. Government sources told FE that the implication of this development is that if tomorrow there’s any charge against the microblogging site for alleged unlawful content it would be treated as a publisher – not an intermediary – and be liable for punishment under any law, including the IT Act, as also the penal laws of the country.

Twitter has, thus, become the first firm amongst the likes of Facebook, Google, Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkenIn, etc, to have lost its intermediary status. Other such firms have submitted their compliance report to the government.