Thread by @internetfreedom

Remember the “Manipulated Media” episode? When @GoI_MeitY sent letters to Twitter asking it to stop conducting fact checks?

Well, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has now admitted that the letters were not issued under any provision of the IT Act, 2000. 1/n

When @GoI_MeitY first issued its letter to Twitter in May '21, asking it to remove the “Manipulated Media” tag, we wrote to MeitY pointing out that nothing in the IT Act or Rules empowers MeitY to do this. And that this request had no statutory basis. 2/n

https://twitter.com/internetfreedom/status/1396089385343328257

We also filed 2 RTIs with MeitY in June asking if it had directed Twitter to remove the tag & under which provisions, if so. MeitY’s response did not refer to any legal provision under the IT Act, although MeitY provided copies of 2 letters to Twitter. 3/n

https://twitter.com/internetfreedom/status/1405766600767066114?s=20

It appeared that Twitter had responded to MeitY’s first letter in May 2021, but @GoI_MeitY did not provide us that letter. We filed a First Appeal against this, and MeitY’s failure to identify a legal basis for issuing such directions to Twitter. 4/n

.@GoI_MeitY has now admitted in its response to our First Appeal that there was indeed no legal basis for the issuance of its letters.

This is important because the second letter asked Twitter to stop the practice of tagging dubious tweets as “Manipulated Media” altogether! 5/n

We call upon @GoI_MeitY to refrain from over-reaching its powers and acting beyond its legal ambit. We also call upon Twitter to advance transparency by making its correspondence with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology publicly available. 6/n