No threat to shut Twitter during farmers’ stir: Government

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday denied having threatened to “shut down Twitter” or authorised raids at the homes of Twitter executives for their coverage of the farmers’ agitat ion in 2021. However, it said sections of the Information Technology Act were invoked to direct the microblogging site to block 3750 Twitter URLs between August 2020 and December 2021, the period during which the farmers’ agitation was at its peak.

The government, however, added that Twitter was served an additional notice on June 27, 2022, warning it of “significant con sequences” under the IT Act after it failed to block 167 of the 3750 URLs it was asked to takedown.