India is reprimanding Twitter for not fully complying with the government’s order

India has rebuked Twitter for not promptly complying with government orders to remove certain content and has warned the social media giant that it must abide by local laws to operate in the country.

Ajay Sawhney, secretary for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, met with Twitter vice president for global public policy Monique Meche and deputy general counsel Jim Baker on Wednesday.

“The secretary expressed his deep disappointment with Twitter’s leadership over the way in which Twitter unwittingly and zealously complied with substantial parts of the order,” the government said in a statement after the meeting.

India has ordered Twitter to remove more than 1,100 accounts and posts claiming to spread misinformation about farmers protesting new agricultural reforms, Reuters reported.

Last month, reports said protesters clashed with authorities, resulting in hundreds of injuries and one death. Local media reported that authorities had indicted journalists and an opposition MP for tweeting about the death, but their arrests have been suspended by the Supreme Court for the time being.

In a public blog post ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, Twitter said it had only partially complied with the orders. Last week, the social networking site temporarily blocked some government-run accounts, but said it had later restored access “in a way we believe is in line with Indian law.”

The government statement said New Delhi considered the “farmers’ genocide” hashtag incendiary and baseless, claiming it was used to spread misinformation about the protests.

He also described some of the accounts he wants to take as “supported by Khalistan sympathizers and supported by Pakistan.” The Government did not provide specific evidence for these allegations in its statement.

“(Secretary Sawhney) took this opportunity to remind Twitter that in India, the Constitution and its laws are supreme. It is expected that the responsible entities will not only reaffirm, but remain committed to abiding by the law of the land,” the statement added.

Twitter, in its blog post, explained that it has taken steps to reduce the visibility of hashtags containing malicious content and suspended more than 500 accounts that engaged in “clear examples of platform manipulation and spam.”

Other accounts identified in government blocking orders are not available in the country, but can be accessed from outside India. The company added that it did not believe that the actions it was asked to take were in line with Indian law and refused to restrict the accounts of journalists, activists and politicians.

“In accordance with our principles of protecting protected speech and freedom of expression, we have not taken any action on accounts consisting of media outlets, journalists, activists and politicians,” Twitter said in a blog post, adding : therefore, we believe, they would be violating their fundamental right to free speech in accordance with Indian law. “

The IT ministry secretary told Twitter that he is welcome to do business in India, but must abide by Indian laws, regardless of the socialization company’s rules and guidelines, according to the government statement.

India is the third largest Twitter market behind the US and Japan and has more than 17 million users there since January, according to German data firm Statista.

The current confrontation against the government puts the American company in a position where it has to juggle between advocating for the right to free expression of its users and respecting local laws. Reuters reported that India’s main Twitter lobbyist, Mahima Kaul, has resigned as the company faces a growing public relations crisis.

Indian government officials, meanwhile, are promoting a home-grown Twitter alternative called the Koo App, and local media have reported an increase in the number of users on that site. The IT Ministry has promoted its own account on the new Twitter platform.