Enough opportunities given: Ravi Shankar Prasad on Twitter row

New Delhi, June 16: Union Minister for Information and Technology while justifying the removal of legal protection for Twitter in India said that the company did not deliberately comply with the new IT rules.

"There are numerous queries arising as to whether Twitter is entitled to safe harbour provision. However, the simple fact of the matter is that Twitter has failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines that came into effect from the 26th of May. Further, it was given multiple opportunities to comply with the same, however it has deliberately chosen the path of non-compliance," said on Koo.

Indian companies be it pharma, IT or others that go to do business in USA or in other foreign countries, voluntarily follow the local laws. Then why are platforms like Twitter showing reluctance in following Indian laws designed to give voice to the victims of abuse and misuse, Prasad wrote.

However, if any foreign entity believes that they can portray itself as the flag bearer of free speech in India to excuse itself from complying with the law of the land, such attempts are misplaced, Prasad also said.