Dorsey's Allegation Of India's Threat To Shut Down Twitter Disputed By Chandrasekhar
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey made statements regarding the pressure faced by Twitter in India, Nigeria, and Turkey to comply with content restrictions. Dorsey revealed that these countries threatened Twitter with severe consequences unless the platform restricted certain accounts and content as per their demands.
During an interview with the YouTube news show Breaking Points, Dorsey specifically mentioned India's requests in relation to the farmers' protests and criticism of the government. He highlighted how India, as a democratic country, employed tactics such as threatening to shut down Twitter in the country, raiding the homes of its employees and shutting down its offices if their demands were not met.
Dorsey also drew parallels between India and Turkey, stating that Twitter received numerous requests from the Turkish government. Although Twitter successfully defended itself in Turkish courts on several occasions, the Turkish government constantly threatened to shut down the platform.
Moreover, Dorsey addressed the situation in Nigeria, where Twitter faced a ban in 2021 following the removal of a post by then-President Muhammadu Buhari. Twitter only had the ban lifted after agreeing to open a local office and make certain agreements with Nigerian authorities. Dorsey expressed concerns about the safety of Twitter employees in Nigeria, citing the government's actions as the reason why the platform couldn't place employees on the ground.
‘Outright Lie’
In response to Dorsey's claims, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, contradicted him, stating that it was an "outright lie" to claim that India had threatened to shut down Twitter. Chandrasekhar emphasised that Twitter had repeatedly violated Indian laws from 2020 to 2022, and it was not until June 2022 that they finally complied.
Chandrasekhar further criticised Dorsey's Twitter administration, highlighting what he perceived as their failure to recognise Indian law and their inconsistent handling of misinformation. Chandrasekhar argued that Twitter's behavior under Dorsey's leadership exhibited partisan tendencies and raised concerns about the platform's arbitrary conduct and misuse of power.
