India to social media firms: Mind our laws or leave

Reuters | New Delhi

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

India’s Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday warned US social media firms to abide by the country’s laws, a day after a face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration and Twitter over content regulation. Speaking in parliament on Thursday, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called out Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and WhatsApp by name and said they were welcome to operate in India, but only if they play by India’s rules.

“You will have to follow the Constitution of India, you will have to abide by the laws of India,” said Prasad. India rebuked Twitter on Wednesday after the US social media giant refused to fully comply with a government order to take down over 1,100 accounts and posts which New Delhi claims spread misinformation about the farmer protests against new agriculture reforms.