The Indian government has issued a notice to microblogging website Twitter and warned it of action for 'unilaterally' unblocking more than 250 accounts suspended earlier over the use of a hashtag regarding the farmers' protest. In a notice, the ministry of electronics and information technology said that Twitter violated its order to block as many as 257 accounts that were seen to be associated with the protest.
The government, in its order said, "You are aware of the prevailing situation, which not only has the potential but has, in fact, resulted in a major public order issue on 26.01.2021. The statutory authorities are doing everything possible to ensure no adverse public order situation takes place and no cognizable offences are committed. In light of these developments and as a part of due process, and as per the settled practice, an order was passed."
The government said that the interim order was issued because hashtags and URLs on Twitter were spreading misinformation in regards to the farmers' protest and that it could lead to violence and affect public order in the country.
The notice further said that Twitter was obliged to obey the order and its refusal could invite penal action against it.
Twitter had earlier blocked accounts over the use of the hashtag "ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide" that had made tweets in criticism of the government. It is reported that Twitter had withheld these accounts and hashtags temporarily but later told the government that they constituted free speech and unblocked related tweets and accounts.
