Twitter gets government notice for showing Leh in Jammu and Kashmir

The ministry has directed Twitter to explain within five working days as to why legal action should not be initiated against it.

Image courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: Union Ministry of Electronics and IT has issued a notice to Twitter for showing Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir instead of Union Territory of Ladakh. The ministry issued a notice to the Global Vice President of the micro-blogging platform on November 9.

The ministry in its notice sent to the global Vice President of Twitter has mentioned that showing Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir is a deliberate attempt by Twitter to undermine the will of the sovereign Parliament of India which had declared Ladakh as a Union Territory of India with its headquarter in Leh, according to an official statement.

The ministry has directed Twitter to explain within five working days as to why legal action should not be initiated against Twitter and its representatives for disrespecting the territorial integrity of India by showing an incorrect map. 

It may be noted that Twitter has earlier shown Leh as part of People’s Republic of China after which Secretary Ministry of Electronics and IT had written a letter to CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey raising objection to that. 

In response to that Twitter had removed People’s Republic of China, but the micro-blogging platform has not yet corrected the map to show Leh as part of the Union Territory of Ladakh. 

It is still showing Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir, which is against the official position of the government of India, the statement added.

The possible actions against Twitter can include a ban on access to Twitter under Section 69A of the IT Act or the registration of an FIR under the Criminal Laws Amendment Act, on charges which is punishable for up to six months in jail.

Section 69A of the IT Act pertains to the power to issue directions for blocking for public access of any information through any computer resource. 

Earlier on August 5, 2019, the Central government had bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.