Reuters reported Twitter alleged abuse of power by officials, with authorities ordering the social media company to act on posts and accounts circulating misinformation about protests by Indian farmers in 2020.
Twitter was also asked to take down tweets criticising the government’s handling of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, supporting an independent Sikh state and more.
In a court filing, Twitter claimed some of the removal orders issued were not in line with the procedural requirements of India’s IT act, which permits authorities to bar public access to content to preserve national security.
Twitter also argued some filings failed to give notice to the content’s authors.
Reuters added some orders were related to content disseminated by the official accounts of political parties, with a source telling the news outlet the moves could be a violation of the right to freedom of speech.
However, Twitter complied with some orders this week to preserve exemptions from liability over posts, after being threatened with criminal proceedings by India’s IT ministry last month.
Reuters cited industry transparency studies showing India ranks as one the top countries in terms of government requests for content removal.
The government has stated large companies including Twitter have failed to comply with its requests.
