Twitter India Managing Director has been booked yet again by the UP police, this time for the depiction of a distorted Map of India. The police in UP's Bulandshahr district have lodged an FIR against Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari and News Partnerships Head Amrita Tripathi, both named as accused and booked under Indian Penal Code section 505(2) (public mischief). Charges under Information Technology Act section 74 (publication for fraudulent purpose) have also been invoked in the case, according to PTI.
The distorted map, which appeared on the career section of Twitter website under the header 'Tweep life’ had shown the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu Kashmir outside India, triggering outrage on social media. Twitter removed that map on Monday evening.
“The world map doesn’t show Ladakh, Jammu, and Kashmir as parts of India. This is not a coincidence. This act has hurt the sentiments of Indians, including me”, Bajrang western UP convenor Praveen Bhati said in the complaint , according to the news agency PTI.
This is for the third time Twitter has published a map that is different from the Government of India's official map. This is the second case filed against the Twitter India MD. He had earlier been summoned by the Ghaziabad police in connection with its probe into the viral video of an elderly Muslim man being attacked on camera. Maheshwari had moved the Karnataka High Court for relief and the court had restrained any coercive action against him by Ghaziabad police till June 29. On Tuesday, June 29, the Uttar Pradesh government moved the Supreme Court against the relief being granted to the Twitter MD.
Meanwhile, the Government has concluded that Twitter in India is no longer an “intermediary” and, therefore, cannot be provided the legal protection that is accorded to Internet Intermediaries under section 79 of the Information Technology Act, a senior government official said on Monday.
