Twitter has blocked four accounts in India – including one belonging to Canadian-Punjabi singer Jazzy B, who has frequently tweeted in support of farmers protesting the government’s agriculture laws and, in December last year, joined thousands camped on the borders of the national capital.
The accounts were blocked – they have been ‘geo-restricted’, meaning they can still be accessed from IP addresses outside the country – after a legal demand from the government on Sunday.
“When we receive a valid legal request, we review it under both the Twitter Rules and local law. If the content violates Twitter’s rules the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only,” Twitter said in its statement.
“In all cases, we notify the account holder directly so they’re aware that we’ve received a legal order pertaining to the account. We notify the user(s) by sending a message to the email address associated with the account(s), if available,” the statement added.
According to technology news website TechCrunch, all four accounts have posted material critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government or in protest against the farm laws.
Twitter posted confirmation of its action on the Lumen database – an online archive that analyses legal complaints and requests for removal of content to ensure transparency.
This is not the first time Twitter has been told to block accounts tweeting on the farmers’ protests.
In February around 250 accounts – including that of Caravan magazine, against whose editors Delhi Police had filed an FIR relating to the Republic Day violence, other journalists and opposition leaders – were blocked for several hours after a “legal demand” from the government.
Surjitt sahani
