India pulls up Twitter on late compliance of emergency orders, says freedom of expression not absolute

The government of India on Wednesday expressed strong displeasure on the way Twitter “unwillingly, grudgingly and with great delay complied with the substantial parts” of its emergency order to remove the hashtag “farmer genocide” and all related content from its platform. Reminding Twitter that lawfully passed orders were binding on any business entity, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ajay Sawhney told representatives of the California-headquartered company that freedom of expression was not absolute and that it was subject to reasonable restrictions.

Twitter had earlier in the day said, it was trying to responsibly bear the torch for an open internet and free expression, while keeping its platform safe from those engaged in propaganda and peddling of fake news.

Due to the emergency nature of the government of India’s blocking orders, Twitter had withheld several accounts including Kisan Ekta Morcha recently, though this was only temporary. Twitter had gone on to restore these accounts within hours, something it said was “in a manner that we believe was consistent with Indian law.”