Twitter Bans Over 45,000 Accounts In India For These Violating Guidelines

By: Divya Thearia

2 September 2022 (New Delhi): Twitter has been locked in a legal battle with the Indian government for a while now, and over content, blocking orders have banned around 45,191 Indian accounts in July. The action was taken because the users violated the guidelines, the microblogging platform stated in its monthly compliance report, which was filed today. 

Ban of Twitter accounts which are violating rules

It has been reported that Twitter suspended 42,825 accounts for promoting content related to non-consensual nudity, child sexual exploitation, and similar content in India. The platform blocked another set of 2,366 accounts for promoting terrorism—which was stated in the monthly compliance report as per the new IT Rules, 2021.

The microblogging platform received 874 grievances in the country through its local grievance mechanism between June 26 and July 25, and took action on 70 of them. 
In June, Twitter banned more than 43,140 accounts of Indian users. 

“While we welcome everyone to express themselves on our platform, we do not tolerate behaviour that harasses, threatens, dehumanises, or uses fear to silence the voices of others,” Twitter said in the report. 
Under the new IT Rules 2021, big digital and social media platforms, with more than 5 million users, have to publish monthly compliance.

Twitter receives complaints through its Grievance Officer-India channel that relate to account verification, account access, or seeking assistance or information regarding an account or Twitter’s enforcement actions. 
In addition, Twitter processed 124 grievances, which were appealing account suspensions.

In addition, Twitter processed 124 grievances, which were appealing account suspensions. 
“These were all resolved and the appropriate responses were sent. “We overturned none of these account suspensions after reviewing the specifics of the situation,” said the company. 

The compliance report came as whistleblower Peiter Zatko, former head of security at Twitter, alleged that the Indian government forced the platform to “hire a government agent on its payroll” and “grant access to sensitive user data”, a claim which has been dismissed by Twitter. 
In May, Twitter moved the Karnataka High Court against the Indian government’s order to take down some content on its platform.