International media organisations – particularly those based out of the United States have a nexus of sorts with American Big Tech. It therefore comes as no surprise that in order to maintain the health of their symbiotic relationship, such media outlets and publications have begun resorting to spreading fake news – their target being India. Even while Big Tech companies have been found to be culpable in disobeying Indian laws and keeping their own ‘policies’ above their host country’s parliament, a section of international media is spinning the narrative in favour of the likes of Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.
The Wall Street Journal, in a report published earlier this month, titled, “India Threatens Jail for Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter Employees,” insinuated, without evidence of course, that the central government had explicitly told Big Tech social media companies to fall in line or face consequences, which may even include jail time. The report is based on the standoff between the Modi government and Twitter, after the former had asked the microblogging site to permanently block over a thousand handles identified to be spreading fake news and encouraging the use of violence.
Twitter had tried to flex its muscles before the Union government, but after being read the riot act by the country’s IT ministry, complied satisfactorily to the government’s directives. Yet, the Wall Street Journal claimed, “India’s government has threatened to jail employees of Facebook Inc., its WhatsApp unit and Twitter Inc. as it seeks to quash political protests and gain far-reaching powers over discourse on foreign-owned tech platforms, people familiar with the warnings say.” Without any evidence to account for, WSJ also went on to ‘report’, “At least some of the written warnings cite specific, India-based employees at risk of arrest if the companies don’t comply.”
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has now come forward and set the record straight and said that no ‘threats’ of arrest were made by it during its communications with the social media giants. “None of the government communications, either written or oral, have ever threatened the employees of any of the social media platforms of jail term,” the IT ministry said. “As has been conveyed on the floor of Parliament, users of social media can criticise the government, the Prime Minister or any Minister but promotion of violence, rampant communal divide and stoking the flames of terrorism will have to be reflected upon,” the statement added.
It is completely mischievous on the part of WSJ to claim that the government had threatened social media employees with arrest. In fact, if at all any arrests would be made – they would be of top executives, in accordance with them flouting Indian laws passed by the country’s parliament. That is not something extraordinarily scary. It is rather an acceptable notion worldwide that acting against the laws of the land can have severe consequences. And if social media company executives did act against relevant laws, they most rightly deserved to be put behind bars.
However, all is well that ends well. Twitter made a sound choice by complying with government directives. As such, WSJ can paint multiple doomsday scenarios, but as it appears, the government and Big Tech have made peace, for now.