India vs Twitter: NCP says it is to suppress people's voice

Photo used for representational purpose

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has accused the Centre of trying "to suppress the voice of the people" by targeting the international communications platform, Twitter, here on Thursday.

Referring to the revelations made by the global media giant in its latest transparency report, NCP National Spokesperson and Minister Nawab Malik flayed the Central government for its alleged attempts to harass Twitter by seeking information from it almost on a daily basis.

"Twitter is a platform where the common people can air their views in a transparent manner. Even in India it is being used in a big way for the public to voice their opinions freely and fearlessly, as it gives them an outlet to highlight injustice," said Malik.

"However, the government of India is scared that it is unable to snatch the freedom of people to speak up because of Twitter. In this country, many things are controlled, there is no platform for people to raise their voice. Twitter is revealing the truth, so the government is harassing it in such a manner," added Malik.

The NCP leader pointed out that if there are fake posts, messages or videos, many laws in the country, including the Information Technology Act, can be invoked to handle them, book them and take action against those indulging in such activities.

His comments came in the wake of Twitter's recent transparency disclosures, claiming that 25 per cent of all requests pertaining to accounts' information originate from India, which is the highest in the world, overtaking the USA which is now relegated to the second slot.

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