New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Police has issued a legal notice to Twitter’s India head for causing ‘communal unrest’ in the case of an assault on a Muslim man in Ghaziabad earlier this month. Maheshwari, who is the Managing Director of Twitter in India, has been ordered to appear in a police station near the Loni Border and record his statement within seven days.
Twitter Communication India and Twitter Inc did not take any action against people who used their Twitter handle to spread hatred. ‘They spread anti-social messages,’ the notice sent to Mr. Maheshwari read. The Parliamentary panel has asked Twitter to appear before them at 4 PM today in Parliament Complex to discuss how to prevent misuse of social media. A Delhi Police team had earlier questioned Maheshwari in connection with the ‘Congress toolkit’ controversy. Several notices were served and the police visited the offices of Twitter in Delhi and Gurgaon prior to their journey to Bengaluru to question him.
The legal notice comes just days after Twitter, several journalists, and Congress leaders were named in an FIR (first information report) in Ghaziabad related to tweets sharing a video of the assault on June 5. The victim, Sufi Abdul Samad, claimed that his beard was cut off and that he was made to sing ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’ by a group that assaulted him. Six people, including Hindus and Muslims, attacked the man after he allegedly sold fake lucky charms. UP Police say the incident was not a communal one.
The family of Abdul Samad has denied police allegations. ‘My father did not sell tabeez, which the police claimed I was told he did. In our family we are carpenters, so they should conduct an investigation to know for sure,’ said Babloo Saifi, Abdul Samad’s son. Twitter and eight others are charged with provocation for rioting, inciting enmity between different groups, outrage over religious feelings, and criminal conspiracy.
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This is the first case against the social media giant since the new government rules for online news publishing platforms took effect on May 26. Sources in the government said that the microblogging site ‘lost its legal shield’ because it failed to adhere to new IT rules that require it to appoint India-based officers. In any case, the government has not clarified whether Twitter has lost its intermediary status, which provides it with immunity from third-party content. A second complaint has been filed in Delhi against Twitter and actor Swara Bhasker over ‘inflammatory tweets’ about the assault on the Muslim man in Ghaziabad.
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