Complaint filed against Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari for spreading 'communal hatred’

Trouble continued to mount for Twitter India's Managing Director (MD) Manish Maheshwari as a complaint was lodged on Saturday against him in Delhi for allegedly spreading communal hatred. The complaint filed by advocate Aditya Singh Deshwal accused Twitter of allegedly promoting hate speech via its platform, citing the obnoxious pictures of Goddess Kali shared by a handle 'Atheist Republic'. The complaint named Twitter India's MD, Public Policy Manager Shagufta Kamran, founder of Atheist Republic Armin Navabi and the Atheist Republic CEO Susana McIntyre. 

Another complaint against Twitter India MD for spreading communal hatred

The complainant accused Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari and the company's Public Policy Manager Shagufta Kamran of deliberately not acting on such objectionable content even after one month had passed and claimed that it was done with the intention of promoting communal hatred and disturbing the social tranquillity in the country. The complainant sought an FIR to be registered for spreading communal hatred, outraging religious feelings of Hindus under Section 153A, 295A, 298, 505, 107 of the IPC and Section 67,67A read with 79(3) of Information Technology Act, 2000. 

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Trouble ensued after some prominent personalities claimed on Twitter that an old man Abdul Samad Saifi was not just assaulted in Uttar Pradesh with his beard being forcibly cut but also asked to chant slogans such as Jai Shri Ram. Calling them out for giving a communal spin to the incident, the police stressed that Twitter and Twitter India did not take any steps to remove the contentious tweets. The case in question was registered at the Loni Border Police Station on June 15.

Twitter has been booked under Sections 34 (common intention), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion), 295-A (deliberate act to outrage religious feelings) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC. This development comes just days after the social media giant lost its 'safe harbour' immunity implying that its top executives may face criminal action for third-party content. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party leader Ummed Pahalwan Idrisi was arrested in connection with this case on June 19 and remanded to 14-day judicial custody. 

An investigation by Republic TV showed how the Ghaziabad Police had been replying to each and every tweet that made to proliferate the fake communal angle alleged in the incident. However, they apparently received no assistance from Twitter. None of the post they responded to were tagged as 'manipulated media', while the fake news vastly outgunned the multiple clarifications by the cops.