Social media giant Twitter Inc faced censure from Indian legislators for a 2nd time in weeks for failing to take down posts critical of India’s Supreme Court & Judges that a parliamentary panel called “obscene”.
The renewed heat from Indian legislators comes a day after an Indian parliamentary panel said Twitter submitted a written apology for geo-tagging a northern Himalayan region as part of China. The company vowed to make corrections by month-end.
Meenakashi Lekhi, the head of the panel & a lawmaker from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ordered Twitter to explain on Thursday why it hadn't taken down “obscene” tweets by a stand-up comedian against the country’s Supreme Court & its Judges.
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Twitter declined to comment.
The fresh scrutiny comes at a time when India has taken a tough stance around policing digital content. To tackle “fake news” & disinformation, India has proposed a strict set of rules that would force social media giants to deploy automated tools to check for unlawful content & appoint an officer for “24×7” coordination with law enforcement.
Lekhi’s comments come after comedian Kunal Kamra in a series of tweets this month lampooned India’s Top Court & some of its Judges, after they intervened to grant Bail to the head of a nationalist TV news channel, accused of abetment in a suicide case.
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Among other tweets deriding the Judges, Kamra also posted an image of the Court painted in saffron – a colour associated with Hindu nationalism – with the ruling party’s flag raised over the Court.
Lekhi told Reuters that “Kamra is playing with Indian institutions … degrading our institutions is not acceptable".
Lekhi said Twitter’s explanation that it didn't moderate content unless it violated the platform’s policy, was inadequate. Twitter has been given 7 days to explain its stand on the matter, she added.
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Kamra didn't respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. He has previously publicly said that he would not retract his tweets or apologise for them.
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