India won't compromise with its digital sovereignty under leadership of PM Narendra Modi: RS Prasad

IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took a dig at foreign social tech platforms, saying that the era of the ‘East India Company’ is long gone, amid Twitter controversy.

New Delhi: Information and Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday (June 19) said that India won't compromise with its digital sovereignty under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. 

In a series of tweets, the IT Minister raised questions about how Twitter acts in India. “Who are the fact-checkers of Twitter? How are these fact-checkers appointed? What is the process of appointing them? Nothing is known about it. From what I know is that their fact-checkers are those who hate PM Modi,” the minister added.  

मैं यह कहना चाहता हूं कि प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi की अगुवाई का भारत अपनी डिजिटल संप्रभुता पर समझौता नहीं करेगा।
ईस्ट इंडिया कंपनी का ज़माना बहुत पहले चला गया है। pic.twitter.com/zfdLulllOP — Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) June 19, 2021

In an exclusive interview with Zee News CEO Sudhir Chaudhary on Wednesday (June 16), the IT minister took a dig at foreign social tech platforms, saying that the era of the ‘East India Company’ is long gone.

Prasad also noted that if an Indian citizen is troubled on any social media platform, then where should he go? “Will he go to America with his complaint in such a situation? That's why we have asked social media companies to create their own grievance redressal mechanism in India,” he pointed out. 

His comments on American social media firms have come at a time when Twitter appears to be testing the Indian government’s patience. The microblogging platform has already delayed in complying with India’s IT Rules 2021. “The country is not dependent upon Twitter," the Union IT Minister said. 

"There are numerous queries arising as to whether Twitter is entitled to safe harbour provision. However, the simple fact of the matter is that Twitter has failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines that came into effect from May 26," Prasad pointed out in a series of posts.