Twitter has blocked a total of 1122 accounts in India in 2022, according to statistics given by MeitY in Lok Sabha.
According to today’s Lok Sabha evidence from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity), Twitter has been steadily deleting more and more Indian accounts since 2014. The number of accounts blocked on Twitter decreased somewhat in 2018, but other than that, the number has been climbing ever since, according to the ministry’s data.
According to the information Meity provided in the Lok Sabha, Twitter blocked a total of eight accounts in India in 2014, fifteen accounts in the nation in 2015, 194 accounts in 2016, five58 accounts in 2017, 225 accounts in 2018, ten41 accounts in 2019, twenty-eight hundred and fifty-one accounts in 2020, two eight hundred and twenty-one accounts in 2021, and eleven two accounts in 2022.
“Under Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is given the authority to block information in any computer resource when doing so is necessary for maintaining public order, preserving India’s sovereignty and integrity, its defence, its security, its friendly relations with other countries, or any of the aforementioned. Meity stated in the Lok Sabha today that MeitY adheres to the proper procedures as outlined in the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access to Information by Public) Rules, 2009.
“MeitY gave directives for blocking to Twitter to ban URLs including accounts under provision of section 69A of the IT Act, 2000 in keeping with the purpose of the Government to guarantee an Open, Safe & Trusted and Accountable Internet for all of its users,” reads the statement. The Ministry noted that MeitY “does not retain data on the duration of existence of accounts that were suspended by Twitter.”
It’s important to note that the information came to light a day after the Karnataka High Court sent the government a notice in conjunction with their request that Twitter remove almost 1,100 accounts.
Twitter testified before the Karnataka HC panel that if the banning order remains in place, it will have to continue operating in India. According to the firm, the process of recording and providing reasons for account blocking to the company is not currently being followed.
The case will now be heard on August 25, 2022, according to the Karnataka High Court panel.
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