Explosive Insights: Twitter Ex C.E.O. spills the beans on Modi government's rift
India denied on Tuesday that it had said it would shut down Twitter in the country if it didn't block accounts that were critical about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
India, which has the largest democracy in the world, asks Twitter to remove material more than almost any other country, and the site often does so when asked by Indian authorities.
India threatened to shut down Twitter in the country if it didn't follow orders to limit accounts that were necessary of how the government handled farmer protests, said Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government called this claim a "outright lie."
Dorsey, who had stepoed down as CEO of Twitter in 2021, said on Monday that India had also threatened the company with staff raids if it didn't take down certain posts as the government asked.
"They said things like, 'We'll shut down Twitter in India,' which is a big market for us, and 'We'll raid the homes of your employees,' which they did. This is India, which is a democracy," Dorsey said in an interview with the YouTube news show Breaking Points.
In reaction, the Minister for Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, slammed Dorsey by calling what he said a "outright lie."
No one went to jail, and Twitter wasn't "turned off." "Dorsey's Twitter couldn't accept that Indian law was the law of the land," he said in a tweet.
Dorsey's words brought up again how hard it is for foreign tech companies to do business in India while Modi is in charge. His government has often criticised Google, Facebook, and Twitter for not doing enough to stop fake or "anti-India" material on their platforms or for not following the rules.
The former CEO of Twitter's words got a lot of attention because it's rare for international companies with offices in India to criticise the government in public. In a court statement from last year, Xiaomi said that India's financial crime agency had threatened its executives with "physical violence" and coercion. The agency denied this claim.
Several high-level Indian officials attacked what Dorsey said and how Twitter has handled false information in the past. But many lawmakers from the opposition said that the government shut down the views of farmers during the 2020-2021 protest, which was one of the hardest things Modi has had to deal with.
The government gave in to the protesters in the end and got rid of the rules that they said hurt farmers.
"It shows that anyone who even tries to be brave will be stopped," said Supriya Shrinate, a spokesperson for the major opposition party, the Congress party.
Dorsey also talked about pressure from the governments of Turkey and Nigeria, which at different times over the years had banned the platform in their countries before lifting those bans.
Last year, Twitter said that India was fourth in the world in terms of how many times a government asked it to remove content, after Japan, Russia, and Turkey.
Elon Musk spent $44 billion to buy Twitter last year.
Chandrasekhar said that Dorsey and his team at Twitter had broken Indian law many times. He didn't say Musk's name, but he did say that Twitter had been following the rules since June 2022.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
