Twitter Inc. has lost its immunity against user-generated content in India as the US-based microblogging site failed to comply with the new IT rules, the Indian government told the court.
Ending of the legal protection could lead to legal action against firm’s executive over objectionable material on its platform.
Indian police have filed around five cases against Twitter or its officials over the publication of blasphemous content and child pornography.
Recently, a case was registered against Twitter’s head in India, Manish Maheshwari, in the state of Uttar Pradesh against over the publication of a wrong map of India that showed the disputed region of Kashmir as a separate country.
Twitter and India has been engaged in a standoff since the latter has announced new IT rules. The Indian government has repeatedly criticized the company before it was deprived of immunity from criminal charges over the user-generated content.
India’s IT ministry told the High Court in New Delhi that non-compliance by the social media platfam tantamount to violation of the provisions of the IT Act, causing the US firm to lose its legal protection, according to the filing dated July 5.
The filing by the government came in a case filed by a user seeking action against Twitter not complying with the IT rules.
India’s new IT rules came into effect from end-May and they are aimed at regulating content on social media firms and making platform more accountable to legal requests for swift removal of posts and sharing details on the originators of messages.
