India's love and hate relationship with Twitter - in seven slides
Twitter has recently lost its status as an intermediary platform in India as it does not comply with new IT rules of the country.
Now, Twitter will not be considered a platform that hosts content from various users. Rather, it will be seen as a publisher and will be directly editorially responsible for anything published on the website. So this makes the microblogging site liable for punishment under any law, including IT Act, as also the penal laws of the country.
While Twitter is locked in a tussle with the Indian government, let's take a look at the journey of the platform in the country - how it grew and the legal tussles it's currently involved in with the Indian government.
Where it all began
Twitter was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams in March 2006 and launched in July of that year. What caught the attention of users is one of its defining features which is the strict limits placed on each post, known as a tweet. It allowed only 140 characters, although that was doubled to 280 in 2017.
Growth In India
2021: Twitter Vs Govt of India
Farmers Protest In Delhi
The friction between the government and Twitter started after the former asked the latter to take action against some of the accounts that were inciting the violence that happened, as they claimed, in the garb of farmers' protest rally, on Republic Day in Delhi. Twitter was not prompt in responding to the request.