Twitter GoI spat. MeitY has no legal power to force Twitter on ‘Manipulated Media’ tag, say experts

The government has no power under the IT Act to direct the independent microblogging platform to remove the ‘Manipulated Media’ label which has been placed on the tweets as per its own policy, say experts.

The development follows Twitter labelling as “manipulated media” a tweet by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on the alleged toolkit prepared by the Congress to target the Modi government.

Also read: Remove ‘Manipulated Media’ tag from certain tweets: MeitY tells Twitter

MeitY has directed the platform to remove the ‘Manipulated Media’ tags affixed “prejudicially” to certain tweets in recent days in the interests of “fairness and equity”.

According to experts, MeitY, as per the current Information Technology Act and the IT Rules 2021, does not hold the power to direct the platform to do so.

The government can ask the platform to remove content or block a service in case it is in violation of any law. However, in the current situation, the government does not have a legal power for directing the platform to do so, they said.

Apar Gupta, executive director of Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital liberties organisation said, “As per my opinion, this extra-legal request, which has gone because it does not emerge from the existing power of the Information Technology Act, which is the principal law that empowers the Ministry of electronics which has made these requests. In the absence of this power, any such request is not legal, it's not a valid legal request.”

“The Government has absolutely no legal powers to direct Twitter to alter or change the label that it may have added they're in line with its policy on this,” said Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Policy Director and Senior International Counsel at Access Now.

"If the government of India wishes to block a service, or block specific content from being shown, they can issue an order under Section 69 A of the Information Technology Act. And if they believe other provisions are being violated, they can choose to try and prosecute Twitter, if they believe a law of India has been violated in this being done. But at present, the Government of India has absolutely no other legal power to direct Twitter to do or not do anything," Chima said.

“In order to determine if media have been significantly and deceptively altered or fabricated, we may use our own technology or receive reports through partnerships with third parties,” it said in its policy document.

Restricted powers

According to Prasanth Sugathan, legal director of the digital rights organisation, SFLC.in, “The powers of the government are restricted by the provisions of the IT Act. None of these provisions give the power to the government to ask Twitter to remove a labelling.”

“That is something Twitter has done as a private platform. The power is with the person who posted it. An affected user can approach the platform. Sambit Patra, for instance, can approach Twitter to remove the label. The government does not come into the picture here,” added Sugathan.