NEW DELHI: Twitter has conveyed that it needs more time to block 28 accounts containing objectionable content but the government made it clear that the social networking has to withdraw them or face action, PTI reported.
The social media site has conveyed to the Department of Electronics and Information Technology that it was facing technical problems in disabling the accounts and sought more time to do it.
The government says Google and Facebook have largely cooperated while Twitter has been much slower to respond.
The government faced an angry backlash from Twitter users after
ordering Internet service providers to block about 208 accounts that
officials said had spread scare-mongering material that threatened
national security.
The backlash came as New Delhi turned up the
heat on Twitter, threatening "appropriate and suitable action" if it
failed to remove the accounts as soon as possible. Several newspapers
said this could mean a total ban on access to Twitter in India but
government officials would not confirm to Reuters that such a drastic
step was being considered.
The government's actions triggered a
storm of criticism from Twitter users, with the hashtags #Emergency2012
and #GOIBlocks among the top trending topics on Twitter in India on
Thursday. Some compared the situation with the state of emergency
imposed by the government in 1975, when some journalists were jailed.
"Every company, whether it's an entertainment company, or a construction company, or a social media company, has to operate within the laws of the given country," said Sachin Pilot, minister of state in the Ministry of Communications.
Twitter has been instructed to remove 28 pages containing "objectionable content", an interior ministry official said.
The government blocked access to more than 300 Web pages after
threatening mobile phone text messages and doctored website images
fuelled rumours that Muslims, a large minority in the predominantly
Hindu country, were planning revenge attacks for violence in Assam,
where 80 people have been killed and 300,000 have been displaced since
July.
According to documents obtained by Reuters, the government has targeted Indian journalists, Britain's Daily Telegraph, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Al Jazeera television in its clampdown on Internet postings it says could inflame communal tensions.
The government has ordered Internet service providers to block the Twitter accounts of veteran journalist Kanchan Gupta and television anchor Shiv Aroor. Some appeared to have begun complying with the order on Thursday as Twitter users reported difficulties in accessing their pages.
The parliament last year passed a law that obliges Internet companies to remove a range of objectionable content when requested to do so, a move criticised at the time by rights groups and social media companies.
Fearing for their lives, tens of thousands of migrants fled Mumbai,
Bangalore and other cities last week. The exodus highlighted underlying
tensions in a country with a history of ethnic and religious violence.(Agencies)
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