Twitter is conspicuous in its fight with India over restricting accounts in the country. The company on Monday released its first official response since the Indian government insisted that it block more than 250 accounts it had recovered in defiance of an IT ministry order. Among the blocked accounts were Caravan, a news magazine, and people who criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We strongly believe that the open and free exchange of information has a positive global impact, and that the tweets should continue to flow,” the company said in a statement shared with BuzzFeed News.
Twitter’s statement comes amid confrontation with India’s increasingly authoritarian government, as millions of farmers protest agricultural reforms and shock the country.
Reports in the Indian press said on Monday that the government had asked the company to block nearly 1,200 additional accounts which they said were tweeting about the protests and that they were being managed from Pakistan. A report in the Times of India also quotes an anonymous government official as saying that India is upset about Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey because he likes tweets that support the protests. A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment.
On January 31, the IT Ministry of India ordered Twitter to prevent more than 250 accounts of activists, political commentators and the Caravan from being viewed within the country. Twitter initially complied, but changed course six hours later. In response, the Government of India again ordered the website to block the accounts and threatened Twitter officials in India with legal consequences for violating the order, including a fine and up to seven years in prison.
But a week later, the bills are still up, which puts the company’s staff in India at risk of retaliation by the government.
“The safety of our employees is a top priority for us on Twitter,” the company said in a statement. “We are still working with the Government of India from a respectful position and have reached out to the Honorable Minister, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for a formal dialogue.”
The actions of Twitter put it at the center of a free speech debate in a country that sees an ongoing battle against disunity amid millions of farmers’ protests against agricultural reforms that they say will hurt their incomes. For Twitter, blocking the accounts would once again mean that this action is made possible, but that it is not restricted, but it could have legal consequences.
“We review every report we receive from the government as soon as possible, and take appropriate steps regarding such reports, while ensuring that we protect our fundamental values and commitment to public discourse,” Twitter said. ” An update is shared through our established communication channels with the government. ‘
Despite the polite language, some people, including former Twitter employees saw a double meaning in the statement. During the Arab Spring in 2011, the company’s co-founder, Biz Stone, and former general counsel Alexander Macgillivray wrote a report explaining the company’s position on freedom of speech. It was titled: “The tweets must flow.”