Indian Government Threatened To Shut Down Twitter, Says Jack Dorsey

• India made many demands to block accounts related to the Farmers’ Protests on Twitter.
• Also, the Indian government threatens to shut it down and raid warnings.

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey claimed that the micro-blogging platform encountered “many requests” from the Indian government to block accounts covering “farmer protests” and those who criticized the government.

In a startling revelation, Jack Dorsey stated that the Indian government exerted pressure on the social media platform to block accounts critical of the government. Dorsey further alleged that the government went as far as threatening to “shut it down by raid and arrest Twitter India employees.” The former CEO of Twitter described addressed this situation with a word “India is a democratic country”

Twitter is Under pressure From Top Countries

The statement by Dorsey sheds light on the increasing concerns surrounding freedom of speech and expression in India, particularly in the digital realm. The controversy surrounding the farmers’ protests, which began in late 2020, has been a subject of national and international debate, with social media platforms playing a significant role in disseminating information and opinions.

However, following a massive strike by thousands of farmers at Delhi border crossings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the three contentious farm laws in November 2021. After that, Modi pleaded with the farmers to end their year-long protest after acknowledging his failure to persuade them. The three laws were withdrawn during the winter session of Parliament.

In addition, Turkey behaved similarly to India, according to Jack Dorsey. The Turkish government also threatened the company’s closure. He added that Twitter frequently engaged in court battles with the government and prevailed. 

Further, Jack Dorsey hopes that Twitter will adopt technologies such as Nostr and the cryptocurrency market. But he described Elon Musk’s run as Twitter CEO as “fairly reckless.”