WHEN Ravi Shankar Prasad quit as India’s information technology minister on Wednesday (7) ahead of prime minister Narendra Modi’s mega cabinet reshuffle, social media platform Twitter was abuzz. It was being joked that social media giant Twitter now gets a respite since Prasad stepped down as the former minister was after the US firm over its alleged non-compliance with India’s new information technology rules.
But Ashwini Vaishnaw, the new information technology minister who took over Prasad’s office on Thursday (8), gave enough hint that there would be no respite for the social media platform.
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Vaishnaw, who is a member of Rajya Sabha and an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, on Thursday said that all those who live and work in India will have to abide by its rules.
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“The law of the land should be abided by everyone,” Vaishnaw, who also took charge of the key ministry of railways, was quoted as saying by ANI news media to reporters after meeting Bharatiya Janata Party leader B L Santhosh at the party office in New Delhi.
Vaishnaw’s remark came when the Narendra Modi government has locked horns with Twitter over its new information technology rules. The rules make it mandatory for social media platforms with more than 50 lakh users to appoint three key personnel – chief compliance officer, nodal officer and grievance officer – all of whom have to be Indian residents.
While the new rules came into effect in May, Twitter is yet to adhere to the guidelines despite repeated reminders from the central government.
A youth carries an elderly man as they wade through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Wellampitiya on the outskirts of Colombo on November 30, 2025. The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah has risen to at least 334 people across Sri Lanka, with nearly 400 still missing, the Disaster Management Centre said on November 30. Getty Images
A man carries his cat across a flooded road in Wellampitiya on the outskirts of Colombo on November 29, 2025. Sri Lanka made an appeal for international assistance on November 29 as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123, with another 130 reported missing. Getty Images
