"Learning for Twitter and Jack Dorsey" says Union minister after social media site suffers setback in India

Twitter’s petition against the government’s order has been rejected by Karnataka High Court and Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar reacted.

Watch Video

Twitter suffered a big setback at the hands of the High Court, which drew a sharp response from the Union minister. (REUTERS)

It was nothing short of a big setback for former Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey in India. The court has had the final say in a matter that arose after Twitter failed to take down various accounts on the orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The Karnataka High Court, on Friday, rejected the petition filed by the social media giant. In a significant ruling, the single-judge bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit delivered the judgment. Alongside the decision, the judge imposed a substantial penalty of Rs. 50 lakh on Twitter, payable to the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority within 45 days. While giving the order, Justice Krishna S Dixit said, “The statutory committee comprises high functionaries of the government and there is no allegation of mala fide or the like levelled against them,” Hindustan Times reported.

Twitter's plea against Government notice

The case takes us back to 2021, when the government issued several notices to block 39 Twitter accounts. The orders were also related to restricting some Twitter accounts during the Farmers' protest regarding the new agri laws in 2020 and 2021. That was then.

Recently, Jack Dorsey, former Twitter CEO, alleged that during the farmers' protest, Indian govt pressurized Twitter and even indicated it would raid the homes of employees if it did not obey the government's orders. In response to this, Rajeev Chandrashekar, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology, reacted on Twitter. He claimed that Jack Dorsey and his team were in non-compliance of the law of the land repeatedly from 2020 to 2022 and it was only June 2022 that they finally complied. He also mentioned that during the protests in January 2021, there was a lot of misinformation and even reports of genocide which were fake according to the government.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar's reaction after Karnataka court orders

After the Karnataka High Court's order, Rajeev Chandrasekhar told ANI, “Twitter under Mr Jack Dorsey was a company that did not believe that they had to comply with Indian laws. The Government of India was very patient with them.. they chose to go to the High Court. ” During the time of the government's order to Twitter, Jack Dorsey has been serving as the CEO of the social media company. It has since been taken over by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

In a sharp rebuke, the Union Minister said that this can be a big learning for Twitter and Jack Dorsey and that “the Government of India's expectations will always be compliance with the law.”