India's love and hate relationship with Twitter - in seven slides
Twitter has recently lost its status as an intermediary platform in India as it does not comply with new IT rules of the country.
Where it all began
Twitter was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams in March 2006 and launched in July of that year. What caught the attention of users is one of its defining features which is the strict limits placed on each post, known as a tweet. It allowed only 140 characters, although that was doubled to 280 in 2017.
Growth In India
In 2020, Twitter reported 186 million daily users for the period ended with June 30. This meant an almost 34% increase from June 2019 to 2020.
2021: Twitter Vs Govt of India
However, 2021 seems to be a rough year for Twitter in India as there has been several run-ins with the government
Farmers Protest In Delhi
The friction between the government and Twitter started after the former asked the latter to take action against some of the accounts that were inciting the violence that happened, as they claimed, in the garb of farmers' protest rally, on Republic Day in Delhi. Twitter was not prompt in responding to the request.
Manipulated Media Tag
Recently, Twitter tagged some posts of BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra as "manipulated media". Delhi Police Special Cell visited the office of Twitter in this regard.
Twitter vs IT Rules
Twitter also didn’t follow the new IT Rules as it believes that this could have elements that could inhibit free speech. It said it plans to “advocate for changes to elements of these regulations that inhibit free, open public conversation”.
The wrong map of India
The latest case is Twitter carried a wrong map of India, which showed Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, as a separate country, thus provoking outrage from the netizens
Trending Photos