Govt Terms Twitter Blog Post Before Planned Meet As ‘Unusual’, Writes The Same On Koo Too

The ministry of electronic and IT (MeitY) on Wednesday (10 February) termed the Twitter's blog post explaining why it had reinstated the accounts which were blocked on government's request as "unusual", reports The Times of India.

The centre also questioned the timing of the blog by micro-blogging platform as it was published ahead of a meeting requested by Twitter with the ministry.

Interestingly, the ministry also posted a message on Koo, the made-in-India microblogging platform, which said that the government will share its response soon.

"Upon the request of Twitter seeking a meeting with the Govt., the Secretary IT was to engage with senior management of Twitter. In this light a blog post published prior to this engagement is unusual. Govt. will share its response soon," the ministry wrote.

The Indian government on Monday (08 February) ordered Twitter to block 1,178 accounts that were allegedly linked to Pakistani and Khalistani propagandists which were spreading misinformation and provocative content on farmers' protest.

On Wednesday (10 February) Twitter responded with a blog consisting of actions it has taken. The response cites freedom of expression, transparency etc. and says that Twitter has not taken any action on accounts that consist of news media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians, but it has withheld a portion of the accounts within India only.

The tussle between Twitter and Indian government is gaining significance amid increasing calls from various quarters to take strict action against Twitter for its alleged non compliance with domestic rules and regulations.

On the other hand, Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal on 9 February announced that he has signed up on Made-In-India social media application Koo and urged his followers to do the same.

Various government ministries like Railways, Electronics and IT, Commerce and Consumer Affairs have also opened an account on Koo.