Government says ordered takedown of fake Covid-19 posts only, not the ones criticising us

The Indian government has ordered Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to remove over 100 posts and URLs in a fresh order.

Last week, the Indian government ordered Twitter to remove posts that were critical of its handling of the Covid-19 crisis. Twitter hid as many as 50 tweets from public viewing in India, informing users about the action that was taken to comply with India’s IT Act, on the government’s directive. A large chunk of these posts criticised how the Modi government is tackling the outbreak. The IT Ministry has now clarified that it ordered the takedown of only those posts that were found spreading misinformation around Covid-19. In a fresh order, the government has asked Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to remove more than 100 posts and URLs that the government has found are spreading “fake or misleading information”. And much like the previous order, the tech companies have complied with the order. However, the IT Ministry has said that it is demanding the takedown of only those posts that are spreading false information to “create panic” around the pandemic, not the ones that criticise the government for its handling of the Covid-19 situation. “This decision has been taken to prevent obstructions in the fight against the pandemic and escalation of public order due to these posts,” an official was quoted as saying in a Times of India report. The official added that the action against these posts did not have the intention to curb the voices that are critical of the government but to “block inflammatory content that used morphed or doctored images and statements.” There is some substance to this statement. Folks at The Wire found some posts that Twitter had to hide to comply with the government’s previous order were actually misleading.