Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover will not Impact India’s New IT rule

On Friday a government minister told the media that Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter Inc will not change India’s assumption that it should comply with the nation’s current and upcoming new IT rules which will be published within days.

Throughout the past two years, Indian authorities have asked Twitter to act on content such as accounts supportive of an independent Sikh state, posts alleged to have spread misinformation about protests by farmers, and tweets critical of the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our guidelines and laws for intermediaries continue as before regardless of who owns the platforms,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s minister of state for electronics and information technology. “So, the expectation of compliance with Indian laws and rules remains.”

In July, Twitter asked an Indian court to overturn some government orders to remove content from the platform.

Chandrasekhar said India’s altered IT rules would be released on Friday or Saturday after months of consultation. He did not respond directly to a question concerning the banning of people from Twitter, such as Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut.

Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter Inc on Friday and the self-described free speech absolutist has said his craving is to see the company have fewer limits on content that can be posted on the influential social media platform.

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, an ardent supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had her Twitter account banned for violating its rules on hateful conduct and abusive behavior when in May last year she urged Modi to resort to gangster tactics to “tame” one of his political opponents.

The actress, who has won several top awards for acting in India, shared requests from users who appealed to Musk to restore her Twitter account.

The actress and her team did not promptly respond to a request for comment on Friday. She had responded to the boycott last year as white Americans trying to “enslave a brown person”.