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LUCKNOW: Indian police have summoned Twitter’s top official in the country over a viral video of a Muslim man being assaulted, with authorities accusing the US social media giant of stoking sectarian tensions.
According to details, a case had been registered in Ghaziabad in northern Uttar Pradesh state over a video of a few men, apparently Hindu, beating an elderly man believed to be a Muslim and cutting his beard.
The police report names Twitter Inc, its local unit and seven others for their alleged roles in disseminating a video that was deemed insulting to religious beliefs and causing public mischief in a state with a long, bloody history of communal violence.
In a notice, Ghaziabad police wrote to Twitter India head Manish Maheshwari to appear before officials within seven days of the receipt of the summons. “Some people used their Twitter handles to spread hatred and enmity in the society and Twitter did not take cognisance,” said the notice.
“Writings and works which promoted enmity and affected harmony between different communities in the country and the state were encouraged and such anti-society messages were allowed to go viral,” it added.
Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad lashed out at Twitter this week for the Ghaziabad incident, saying its failure to act was “perplexing.” The controversy comes just as India’s federal government is locking horns with Twitter over non-compliance with new IT rules.
