Govt Pulls Up Twitter For Slow Response to Hate Messages

Twitter was told to appoint India-based contact persons round the clock for requests from Law Enforcement Agencies.

(Photo: The Quint)

Twitter was on Monday, 12 November, pulled up by the central government for being "slow" in removing objectionable or unlawful content, which has allegedly helped the spread of hate messages and rumours inciting violence and crime against women and was warned of strict legal action if it failed to comply with the directives of law enforcement agencies, officials told PTI.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba also directed Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's legal, policy and trust and safety lead, and Mahima Kaul, Head Public Policy, Twitter India, to ensure a round-the-clock mechanism for prompt disposal of requisitions of law enforcement agencies.

At a meeting, which was held “for effective action” against objectionable contents, the officials from the microblogging site were told that in some cases Twitter has been “slow” in removing or blocking objectionable or unlawful content, a home ministry official said.

The MHA also advised to appoint India-based contact persons who would be available round the clock, and put in place escalation mechanism to deal with requisitions of Law Enforcement Agencies and general public for prompt removal of unlawful/objectionable content, according to ANI,

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)