On Day 1, new IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has a stern message for Twitter. Read here
1 min read . Updated: 08 Jul 2021, 03:50 PM IST
Whosoever lives and works in India will have to abide by the rules of the country, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said
Newly appointed IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has made it clear that Twitter will have to abide the laws of India. New Delhi and Twitter have been at loggerheads for the past couple of months over the new social media rules, which the latter has been reluctant to comply with.
Responding to a question on the issue with Twitter, Vaishnaw said that whosoever lives and works in India will have to abide by the rules of the country. He was talking to reporters at the Delhi BJP office after meeting general secretary (Organisation) B L Santhosh.
Vaishnaw's predecessor Ravi Shankar Prasad, one of 12 ministers who stepped down in the latest Cabinet rejig, has been extremely critical of Twitter for its delay in appointing executives as mandated by the new rules for major social media players.
Vaishnaw's statement comes on the same day that Twitter stated in a court filing that it has appointed an Indian-origin Chief Compliance Officer as required by the new IT rules, reported news agency Reuters. The microblogging site also stated that it would also appoint two more executives - a nodal officer and a grievance officer -mandated by the law.
Twitter will try to fill the nodal contact person's job on an interim basis within 2 weeks and would appoint an interim grievance officer on or before July 11, the company said in the June 8 filing.
It has posted job openings for all three positions and will try to make an offer of employment to resident Indians, as asked by rules, within 8 weeks, Twitter said.
"While Twitter is striving to comply with the 2021 Rules, Twitter reserves its right to challenge the legality, validity... of the Rules," Twitter said in the filing.