Elon Musk invokes Indian government in counter-suit against Twitter

New Delhi, Aug 05: Tesla founder Elon Musk in his response to Twitter's lawsuit against not going through with the proposed deal invoked the Indian government. He said in his response for backing out of the $44 billion deal that Twitter did not disclose it had filed risky litigation against government of Twitter's third largest market.

He also said that he had been hoodwinked into entering the deal by Twitter's management. The allegations were made in a counter-suit he filed in a court at Delaware.

Twitter must follow the local law in India, he said while describing himself as a proponent of free speech. The moderation of Twitter should hew close to the laws of the countries it operates in.

"In 2021, India's information technology ministry imposed certain rules allowing the government to probe social media posts, demand identifying information, and prosecute companies that refused to comply. While Musk is a proponent of free speech, he believes that moderation on Twitter should hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates," an excerpt reads according to a report in the New York Times.

Twitter said that it had challenged certain blocking orders under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act as it directed the company to remove content that is linked to politicians, journalists and activists.

Twitter which is fighting the case in the Karnataka High Court said that its India business would close down if it complied with the order to block content. The matter is coming up for hearing next on August 25.

Musk put the deal on hold and said that his team is reviewing the veracity of Twitter's claim that it has only 5 per cent of bot accounts on its platform. The company said he stalling the deal due to what it called a loss of interest.