In revert to Twitterafter it expressed concern over the potential threat ‘intermediary guidelines’could cause to “freedom of expression” and “core elements”, the Indian governmenthas told the micro-blogging site to “stop beating around the bush and comply withthe laws of the land.”
The GoI has furthersuggested Twitter to do not “dictate terms” to the world’s largest democracy.
"Twitterneeds to stop beating around the bush and comply with the laws of the land. Lawmaking and policy formulations is the sole prerogative of the sovereign andTwitter is just a social media platform and it has no locus in dictating whatIndia's legal policy framework should be," read the letter of Ministry ofElectronics and Information Technology to Twitter.
DenouncingTwitter’s statements, the Ministry called it “totally baseless, false and anattempt to defame India.”
Over the Twitter’sconcern on freedom of speech, the Ministry asserted, “India has a glorious traditionof free speech and democratic practices dating back centuries
"Protecting freespeech in India is not the prerogative of only a private, for-profit, foreignentity like Twitter, but it is the commitment of the world's largest democracyand its robust institutions,” it added.
The government furtheradded that Twitter is trying to undermine India’s legal system by its actionsand deliberate defiance.
"The governmentof India respects the right of people to ask questions and also criticize these social media platforms including on Twitter. The government equallyrespects the right to privacy. However, the only instance of scuttling freespeech on Twitter is Twitter itself and its opaque policies, as a result ofwhich people's accounts are suspended and tweets deleted arbitrarily withoutrecourse," said the ministry.
Earlier today, Twitter had saidit would "strive to comply with applicable law." However, it wouldask for changes to "elements that inhibit free, open conversation.