- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
SOCIAL media giant Twitter has found itself at the receiving end over a fresh controversy that erupted over displaying a wrong map of India. The police have stepped in to file preliminary charges against senior Twitter officials over the inaccurate map, an official said on Tuesday (29). The incident has happened at a time when Twitter has found itself at odds with the Indian government over complying with the country’s new information technology laws.
The police in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh have lodged a first information report against two Twitter India officials late on Monday (28) at the Khurja Nagar Police Station after a local head of a Hindu nationalist group complained that the social media giant’s website showed the Kashmir region as an independent country.
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The FIR names Twitter India chief Manish Maheshwari and news partnerships head Amrita Tripathi as accused who have been booked under Section 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) of the Indian Penal Code. Charges under Section 74 of the Information Technology Act (publication for fraudulent purpose) has also been invoked in the case.
“The world map does not show Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir as parts of India. This is not a coincidence. This act has hurt the sentiments of Indians, including me,” Praveen Bhati from Bajrang Dal, a militant Hindu group, said in his complaint.
The controversial map was taken down from Twitter’s “Tweep Life” careers section following an uproar on social media on Monday. It may be noted here that in October last year, Twitter had labelled the Indian territory of Ladakh as part of China, inviting New Delhi’s wrath.
The Indian government has strongly dealt with any perceived distortion of the national borders in recent years, particularly over the depiction of Kashmir. Part of the province is ruled by India and another part of Pakistan and it has remained a source of perennial disputes between the two nuclear-armed arch-rivals.
Maheshwari was recently summoned in an assault video case
Maheshwari was recently summoned by the police in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad over the circulation of a controversial video about the assault of an elderly Muslim man but he got relief from the Karnataka High Court after the police wanted him to report in person and record statement.
Twitter has found itself locked in a row with New Delhi over new rules for social media companies that operate in India. Under the regulations, firms are required to remove and identify the “first originator” of posts that are deemed to hurt India’s sovereignty, state security or public order.
Social media companies and privacy activists fear the rules could force them to identify those who post criticising the government. The Indian government has warned that failing to comply with the rules could remove the tech companies’ legal protection which is granted to intermediaries in the country.
