Twitter faces fresh police cases in India

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By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - Twitter is facing new police cases on Tuesday amid a continuing standoff with the Indian government about new rules.

Police in New Delhi said they registered a case against the platform "on the basis of a complaint from NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) citing availability of links/ material pertaining to child exploitation."

"The complaint is against Twitter Inc and Twitter Communication India Private Ltd," according to a police spokesman.

Twitter is also facing cases in two Indian states in the last 24 hours for a "distorted" Indian map that was no longer visible on Tuesday on its site.

Police in northern Uttar Pradesh state filed a case because of a complaint by a Hindu group on Monday and authorities in central Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday said they also registered cases related to the incorrect map.

A map on Twitter’s careers page on Monday showed the India-administered Kashmir region and the Himalayan Ladakh region outside the boundaries of India.

The cases come at a time when there is a tussle about the new rules, with India's technology minister stating June 16 that Twitter deliberately failed to comply with the country’s IT laws, which took effect May 26.

The new rules, or so-called Intermediary Guidelines, announced Feb. 25, are aimed at making social media firms more accountable to requests for the removal of posts.

They were given three months to appoint a local grievance officer, a chief compliance officer and a nodal contact person.

Twitter has appointed Jeremy Kessel as grievance officer for India.

Last month, it said it was worried about the safety of staff due to “intimidation tactics” of Indian authorities, days after police visited one of its offices to serve a notice for labeling a tweet by a ruling party official as “manipulated media.”

The rules also make it mandatory for companies to trace the origin of particular messages if asked by a court or the government, a policy that WhatsApp challenged in court.

News gathering agency Press Trust of India last week reported Dharmendra Chatur, who was recently appointed interim resident grievance officer for India by Twitter, quit his post.

Twitter did not respond to an Anadolu Agency request for comment about the new cases.