Twitter receives notice from India’s Supreme Court over request for fake news checker from ruling BJP

The Supreme Court of India has sought a response from Twitter and the government concerning a petition filed last May asking for a mechanism to check fake news and regulate seditious and incendiary content through fake accounts.

On Friday, Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde issued a notice on the petition filed by BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party, India’s ruling party) politician Vinit Goenka, which concerned a mechanism for checking fake news. It requested comment from both the Indian government and the social media giant. 

“Twitter and social media companies are profit-making companies and expecting them to have safeguards for making social media safe and secure is important. The logic and algorithms that Twitter use should be shared and vetted by Indian government authorities or competent authority for screening anti-lndia tweets,” Goenka’s plea read. 

The petition specifically highlights “bogus accounts” spreading hateful and false information on Twitter and seeks the introduction of measures to check fake news. 

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the petition once responses from the government and Twitter have been heard.  

The Supreme Court action comes at a time when the social media giant is at loggerheads with India’s government. The flashpoint came last week when Twitter only partially complied with the government’s request to permanently suspend more than 1,000 accounts accused of spreading disinformation about the country’s farmers’ protests.

Twitter temporarily suspended some accounts, but only in India. 

On Thursday, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad warned social media companies not to violate the Indian Constitution, adding that there would be “strict action” if they were “misused to spread fake news and fuel violence.”

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