Amid Twitter-government content row, India urges followers to switch to Koo
In an escalating confrontation, the government replied with a post on "koo" - pitched as Twitter's Indian rival.
FollowTwitter on Wednesday said that it partially complied with the government’s requests to block access to accounts, but let others — particularly those of journalists, activists and politicians — remain since the directions were “not consistent with Indian law”, prompting the government to express “disappointment” during a meeting with top executives of the social media company later in the day.
"In keeping with our principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression, we have not taken any action on accounts that consist of news media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians," Twitter said.
The IT secretary expressed his deep disappointment over the manner in which the company had "unwillingly, grudgingly and with great delay" complied with only parts of the government’s orders, the government statement said.
In an escalating confrontation, the government replied with a post on "koo" - pitched as Twitter's Indian rival. Calling the blog "unusual" after Twitter sought a meeting, the government said it would share its response soon.
The government had asked Twitter to remove 1,178 listed handles that it said belonged to Pakistani and Khalistani users and were spreading misinformation on the farmer protests outside Delhi since November.
For Twitter, the stakes are high in India, where it had 17.5 million users as of last month, according to German database firm Statista. It is also ardently used by PM Narendra Modi, his Cabinet ministers and other leaders to communicate with the public.
As the row takes a toll on Twitter, many leading Indian politicians and users are joining the home-grown Twitter-like social media platform Koo, which was launched last year.
Koo App is a Twitter look-alike developed by a Bengaluru-based startup. Government units like the NITI Aayog, too, have logged on to this platform.
Meanwhile, the US reiterated its commitment to supporting democratic values including freedom of expression while commenting on Twitter blocking nearly 500 accounts after receiving orders from the Indian government.
"What I would say generally, is that around the world, we are committed to supporting democratic values including freedom of expression. I think when it comes to Twitter's policies we would have to refer you to Twitter itself," said US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price, when asked about his comments on the situation.
