Penalise Twitter for non-compliance, says IT industry veteran T V Mohandas Pai

PTI, Jun 16, 2021, 5:50 PM IST

New Delhi: Information technology (IT) industry veteran T V Mohandas Pai on Wednesday urged the government to penalise Twitter for non-compliance with Intermediary Guidelines and alleged that the microblogging platform has become ideological, biased and is no longer neutral.

The government should enforce the Rule of Law and penalise Twitter for non-compliance, the former Chief Financial Officer of IT major Infosys said, adding, there is no need for the government to “request compliance”.

“Almost all companies have complied and there is nothing special about Twitter or any company. The sovereignty and laws of India are more important than any MNC,” Pai told PTI.

Stating that enough time has been given to everybody for compliance, he alleged that Twitter has become “very ideological and biased and is no longer the neutral platform which so many admired when it started.”

The government, he stressed, should also make sure that India is no longer at the mercy of global tech monopolies by promoting competition and having open fair regulations protecting consumers.

“Today, all citizens are at the mercy of the tyrannical one-sided attitudes of these global tech monopolies,” he claimed.

“When Indian companies operate globally they obey the laws of that country and there is no reason why India should be soft on these non-compliant MNCs. All are equal under the law.”

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said earlier on Wednesday that Twitter failed to comply with intermediary guidelines and has “deliberately” chosen the path of non-compliance despite being granted multiple opportunities.

Lashing out at the micro-blogging platform over non-compliance, Prasad said that it is “astounding” that Twitter that portrays itself as the flag-bearer of free speech, chooses the path of deliberate defiance when it comes to the Intermediary Guidelines.

“There are numerous queries arising as to whether Twitter is entitled to safe harbour provision. However, the simple fact of the matter is that Twitter has failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines that came into effect from May 26,” Prasad said in a series of posts on homegrown microblogging platform Koo. The Minister also tweeted on the issue.