Twitter Censors Over 50 Tweets On Request Of Indian Govt, Most Criticising Handling Of Covid-19 Crisis: Reports

<p><strong>New Delhi: </strong>Popular microblogging platform Twitter has reportedly censored 52 tweets after receiving requests from the central government. Most of them are said to be the ones critical of India&rsquo;s handling of the recent Covid-19 crisis.</p> <p>These removed tweets include posts by politicians, actors, directors and journalists.</p> <p><strong>ALSO READ |<span style="color: #e03e2d;"><a style="color: #e03e2d;" href="https://ift.tt/3dOuBhh"> 'Grossly Inadequate': Parliamentary Panel Flagged Concerns Of Oxygen, Hospital Bed Shortage In Nov 2020 To Centre</a></span></strong></p> <p>According to recent media reports, Twitter has removed 52 tweets - many of which were about the shortage of medicines, beds, mass cremations, and the crowds at Kumbh Mela amid the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp;</p> <p>These tweets are blocked for viewing in India but are visible to users outside the country.</p> <p>A Twitter user publicly shared a notice he received from the platform's legal team.</p> <p>[tw]https://twitter.com/FriedrichPieter/status/1385699960310673414[/tw]</p> <p>While several media reports have been written about this development, the first report in this regard was filed by <em>MediaNama</em> which also reached out to Twitter for a response.</p> <p>&ldquo;When we receive a valid legal request, we review it under both the Twitter Rules and local law. If the content violates Twitter&rsquo;s Rules, the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only. In all cases, we notify the account holder directly so they&rsquo;re aware that we&rsquo;ve received a legal order pertaining to the account,&rdquo; <em>MediaNama</em> quoted the Twitter Spokesperson as saying.</p> <p>The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is yet to present a public statement on this issue.</p>

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