Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Indian court dismisses Twitter plea on takedown orders

Company is ordered to pay $61,000 in costs after judge deemed its challenge devoid of merit

Indian court dismisses Twitter plea on takedown orders

AN INDIAN court on Friday fined Twitter $61,000 after dismissing its plea challenging orders to remove tweets and accounts critical of prime minister Narendra Modi's government.

The world's biggest democracy petitions Twitter for content removals more than almost any other country, and the platform regularly takes down or blocks content at the request of Indian authorities.

Friday's decision comes weeks after the company's former chief executive Jack Dorsey said authorities had threatened to "shut down Twitter in India" and raid the homes of its employees if it refused to agree to takedown requests.

The Karnataka state high court in Bengaluru, home to Twitter's Indian operations, dismissed the case and imposed costs of Rs 5 million ($61,000) after a judge deemed it "devoid of merits", local legal news website LiveLaw reported.

Responding to the verdict, Indian deputy information technology minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted that platforms operating in the country must "be in compliance with Indian law".

Twitter's India office was contacted for comment.

Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter and stepped down as chief executive in 2021, said this month that Twitter had come under sustained pressure from Indian officials during his tenure.

Chandrasekhar responded at the time by calling Dorsey's accusations an "outright lie."

Twitter said last year that India ranked fourth globally in the number of requests made by a government to remove content - behind Japan, Russia and Turkey.

In March, the platform blocked the accounts of several journalists during the manhunt for a radical Sikh preacher in the northern state of Punjab.

At the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, the government ordered Twitter and Facebook to remove dozens of posts critical of the government's handling of the outbreak.

Rights groups say freedom of expression is under broad threat in India, which has fallen 21 spots to 161 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index since Modi took office in 2014.

Indian authorities have regularly imposed blanket internet shutdowns during periods of unrest, including a four-month outage in Kashmir during a major security operation in the disputed territory in 2019.

(AFP)

More For You

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

FILE PHOTO: Keir Starmer (L) with Narendra Modi. (Photo: Getty Images)

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

INDIA's prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the UK by the end of this month for a visit that could see both sides formally sign the landmark India-UK free trade agreement and explore ways to expand bilateral ties in the defence and security sphere, diplomatic sources said.

Both sides are in the process of finalising the dates for Modi's visit to the country by the end of July or the first part of August, they said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India flight crash
Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
Getty Images

Investigators focus on engine fuel controls as Air India crash report nears release

Highlights:

 
     
  • Investigators are focusing on fuel control switches in the Air India crash.
  •  
  • The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad.
  •  
  • A preliminary report is expected by Friday, around 30 days after the crash.

A PRELIMINARY report into the Air India crash that killed 241 people in June is expected by Friday, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

Rishi Sunak. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has returned to the banking world as senior adviser at Goldman Sachs group, with plans to donate his salary to the education charity he recently established with his wife Akshata Murty.

The US-headquartered multinational investment bank, where Sunak worked before entering politics, made the announcement on Tuesday (8) after the requisite 12-month period elapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial term concluded following defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London.

Getty Images

Post Office scandal linked to 13 suicides, says inquiry

Highlights:

 
     
  • Public inquiry finds up to 13 suicides linked to wrongful Post Office prosecutions.
  •  
  • Horizon IT system faults led to false accusations, financial ruin, and imprisonment.
  •  
  • Sir Wyn Williams says Post Office maintained a “fiction” of accurate data despite known faults.

A PUBLIC inquiry has found that up to 13 people may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused of financial misconduct by the Post Office, in what is now described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK ramps up drought response following driest spring

The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries

Getty Images

UK ramps up drought response following driest spring since 1893

Key points

  • Spring 2025 was England’s driest and warmest in over 130 years
  • Reservoirs across England only 77% full, compared to 93% average
  • Environment Agency increases monitoring and drought planning
  • North-west England officially declared in drought

Water conservation measures stepped up ahead of summer

The UK government has increased efforts to manage water resources after confirming that England experienced its driest and warmest spring since 1893. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that reservoirs were on average only 77% full, significantly lower than the usual 93% for this time of year.

The announcement came after a National Drought Group meeting on Thursday, which reviewed the impact of continued dry weather on crops, canal navigation, and river flows. Poor grass growth and dry soil conditions were noted as threats to food production and livestock feed.

Keep ReadingShow less