KOLKATA: As the spat between Twitter and the government intensifies, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad issued a caution – action will be taken against social media if it allows unchecked the spread of fake news and misinformation.

“We respect social media a lot, it has empowered common people. Social media has a big role in Digital India programme. However, if social media is misused to spread fake news, violence then action will be taken,” the law minister said in the Rajya Sabha according to media reports.

Prasad pointed out that in India, its Constitution and laws are supreme and a private entity’s own rules could not be above the law of the land.

The Centre also questioned Twitter’s transparency on the way it allows fake, unverified, and automated bot accounts to be operated on its platform. The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) expressed dissatisfaction with Twitter for its delayed action on the multiple takedown notices issued against tweets and accounts using hashtags related to "farmer genocide.”

Coming down hard on the microblogging site, MeitY secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney said the government expects Twitter to comply with its legal notice as “lawfully passed orders are binding on any business entity.”

‘’Misuse of Twitter’s platform for execution of such campaigns designed to create disharmony and unrest in India is unacceptable and Twitter must take strong action against such well-coordinated campaigns against India,’’ he added.

Meanwhile, Twitter leadership has affirmed its commitment to follow Indian law, saying it has undertaken a range of enforcement actions — including permanent suspension in certain cases — against more than 500 accounts that MeitY had flagged.

However, the social media giant stated in a blog post dated 10 February 2021 that it's exploring legal options as it believes the government's directions are not consistent with Indian laws.

"In keeping with our principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression, we have not taken any action on accounts that consist of news media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians. To do so, we believe, would violate their fundamental right to free expression under Indian law. We informed MeitY of our enforcement actions… We will continue to maintain dialogue with the Indian government and respectfully engage with them,” the blog read.