4 ms·

Uh, hello? By law India is a democracy, where it has always been OK to criticize the government - at least up until 2014, when the current government began abus

Uh, hello? By law India is a democracy, where it has always been OK to criticize the government - at least up until 2014, when the current government began abusing the British Era sedition laws. I think every Indian on this site is old enough to remember who the protests against the Delhi Rape Crisis and the government response were effectively coordinated on Twitter and Facebook. Twitter wouldn't have been breaking any laws if precedent weren't being set by this government.

mrtksn 6y ago
Okay, what's the expectation here? Twitter fixing the "wrong choice" the Indians made in 2014? That doesn't sound like a democracy to me either. IMHO, if that's the case Indians need to get a new government and fight their own wars. Why would Twitter be liberating the Indian people? If anything, that "liberation" would come at a cost just as with the USSR liberating Germany from the Nazis, US liberating Iraqi people from Saddam, Turkey liberating Turkish Cypriots from the Greek dictatorship.
- fakedang 6y ago
  Because Twitter wasn't breaking any laws. Twitter should not be policing content because none of the people posting on it were breaking any laws either. The only laws Twitter was breaking was a skewed interpretation of a British Era law for which the Indian government is twisting the definition of treason.
  - mrtksn 6y ago
    >skewed interpretation of a British Era law for which the Indian government is twisting the definition of treason. There you have it. It’s not up to the companies to police, enforce or interpret laws. That’s the states job and if that’s how they interpret it then that’s how the law is. There are other tools to change laws or interpretations.
    - fakedang 6y ago
      Last time I checked, it's the court's job to interpret laws, not the legislature's. And from recent past precedent, we know that the courts haven't interpreted the sedition law the way the government has, yet the Modi government does not give a rats ass and continues to trample over them.
      - mrtksn 6y ago
        >Last time I checked, it's the court's job to interpret laws, not the legislature's Sure, court of whatever justice system they have in place but definitely not a corporation. If people don't like the way Modi runs the country, including the justice system, they will need to take him down and install someone who will do it the way they prefer. It's unreasonable to expect that a foreign for profit corporation will do it for them. What happens if the twitter shareholders replace the current CEO and put someone who is willing to do anything for profit and the most profitable way forward is to work with Modi? Will Indians expect Facebook to step in and save them?
sinyug 6y ago
> India is a democracy, where it has always been OK to criticize the government - at least up until 2014, 1. 1975-77: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) 2. 2011: https://www.telegraphindia.com/7-days/when-net-is-gross/cid/468234 https://www.telegraphindia.com/7-days/when-net-is-gross/cid/... 3. 2008: https://www.theregister.com/2008/05/19/google_india_gandhi/ https://www.theregister.com/2008/05/19/google_india_gandhi/ No Indian politician or government _likes_ criticism. Modi is almost unique in the staggering amount of abuse and vitriol that has been directed towards him over the last twenty years. If it had been any one else, they would probably have lost it by now.
- fakedang 6y ago
  Modi is also unique in the staggering lengths he goes to maintain a sanitized image of himself and his party online. You forget how much attack Manmohan Singh and Congress came under during the rape crisis, or 2G scam or CWG scam. Did Manmohan Singh lose it like Modi? Did he force Twitter and Facebook to police their posts and groups? If that had happened, I should have been banned on both platforms by now.

mrtksn 6y ago

Okay, what's the expectation here? Twitter fixing the "wrong choice" the Indians made in 2014? That doesn't sound like a democracy to me either. IMHO, if that's the case Indians need to get a new government and fight their own wars. Why would Twitter be liberating the Indian people? If anything, that "liberation" would come at a cost just as with the USSR liberating Germany from the Nazis, US liberating Iraqi people from Saddam, Turkey liberating Turkish Cypriots from the Greek dictatorship.

fakedang 6y ago
Because Twitter wasn't breaking any laws. Twitter should not be policing content because none of the people posting on it were breaking any laws either. The only laws Twitter was breaking was a skewed interpretation of a British Era law for which the Indian government is twisting the definition of treason.
- mrtksn 6y ago
  >skewed interpretation of a British Era law for which the Indian government is twisting the definition of treason. There you have it. It’s not up to the companies to police, enforce or interpret laws. That’s the states job and if that’s how they interpret it then that’s how the law is. There are other tools to change laws or interpretations.
  - fakedang 6y ago
    Last time I checked, it's the court's job to interpret laws, not the legislature's. And from recent past precedent, we know that the courts haven't interpreted the sedition law the way the government has, yet the Modi government does not give a rats ass and continues to trample over them.
    - mrtksn 6y ago
      >Last time I checked, it's the court's job to interpret laws, not the legislature's Sure, court of whatever justice system they have in place but definitely not a corporation. If people don't like the way Modi runs the country, including the justice system, they will need to take him down and install someone who will do it the way they prefer. It's unreasonable to expect that a foreign for profit corporation will do it for them. What happens if the twitter shareholders replace the current CEO and put someone who is willing to do anything for profit and the most profitable way forward is to work with Modi? Will Indians expect Facebook to step in and save them?

sinyug 6y ago

> India is a democracy, where it has always been OK to criticize the government - at least up until 2014, 1. 1975-77: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) 2. 2011: https://www.telegraphindia.com/7-days/when-net-is-gross/cid/468234 https://www.telegraphindia.com/7-days/when-net-is-gross/cid/... 3. 2008: https://www.theregister.com/2008/05/19/google_india_gandhi/ https://www.theregister.com/2008/05/19/google_india_gandhi/ No Indian politician or government _likes_ criticism. Modi is almost unique in the staggering amount of abuse and vitriol that has been directed towards him over the last twenty years. If it had been any one else, they would probably have lost it by now.

fakedang 6y ago
Modi is also unique in the staggering lengths he goes to maintain a sanitized image of himself and his party online. You forget how much attack Manmohan Singh and Congress came under during the rape crisis, or 2G scam or CWG scam. Did Manmohan Singh lose it like Modi? Did he force Twitter and Facebook to police their posts and groups? If that had happened, I should have been banned on both platforms by now.