Government asks Twitter to block another 1178 accounts

The Government of India has requested microblogging platform Twitter to remove 1178 handles for allegedly spreading misinformation and provocative content in connection with the farmer’s protest. The social media is yet to comply with the order while the company has issued a statement saying it was respecting local laws even while maintaining its foundational principle of freedom of expression.

Earlier on 31 January, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had sent a list of 257 handles and one hashtag to be blocked for similar reasons. Twitter blocked these handles for a few hours but unblocked 100 accounts after an internal investigation.