Elon Musk says Twitter has no 'actual choice' when complying with authoritarian government requests to restrict content
Business InsiderJun 03, 2023
Jack Dorsey: Several Countries Have Threatened Twitter Shutdowns
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Image copyright: JD Lasica [via Wikimedia Commons]
The Facts
In a recent interview on YouTube, Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey stated that India, Nigeria, and Turkey have often threatened to ban the social media site if it refuses to comply with instructions to restrict accounts.
Dorsey told the YouTube channel Breaking Points that India had made numerous requests to remove the accounts of journalists who were critical of the government during the farmers’ protests in 2021.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Dorsey's revelations should come as no surprise considering the backdrop of Modi's hounding of BBC journalists in recent months, but the fact that the BJP government threatened Twitter with bans and raids on company employees is still a shocking indictment of efforts to quash free speech in the nation. The comments highlight the fragility of democracy in India, unequivocally showing the tyrannical direction in which the Modi government is headed.
Establishment-critical narrative
Despite Dorsey's seemingly pious public statements, the former CEO's selective truth-telling is in fact an assault on the Modi government. Twitter repeatedly violated India's legislation under his leadership, with Dorsey himself even communicating his belief that the social media platform should be exempt from such regulations. The company stands accused of itself suppressing free speech, while a senior legal executive for Twitter has admitted its liability in interfering in Indian elections. Dorsey's anti-Modi comments are part of a farcical circus of fabrication.
