The government is using the Information Technology Act to call on Twitter and other social media sites to block content in the “interest of India’s sovereignty”. Many see these laws as a ploy to intimidate and silence opposition politicians, journalists and activists.
According to a recent report by the Advocacy Project of Global Voices, an international network of online activists dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online, India’s use of legal requests to remove content is “the biggest threat to social media”. as a means of control”. An important forum for discourse.
“In 2021, the government asked Twitter to block the accounts and tweets of organizations such as Freedom House, journalists, opposition party members and farmer advocacy groups,” the report said.
Kasturi has repeatedly positioned herself as a free speech absolutist, who is against limiting speech by blocking accounts. However, after spending $44 billion to buy Twitter, Musk has also been focused on ways to increase revenue through subscriptions or paid verification.
Activists and members of the business community are wondering how Musk plans to balance these two issues. Musk indicated in a tweet in May that the company under him would work to comply with “local laws”.