Is Centre Gagging Critics? Union Minister Responds To Twitter Claim

Rajiv Chandrasekhar said, "We are trying to create some boundary conditions around the space that has never had any regulation"

Union minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar today said that the Central government's requests to Twitter to take down posts is only a fraction of what comes from other nations, including the US and Germany. The government, he added, is just trying to create some boundaries in an area where none exists.

Twitter went to court earlier this year alleging that the government was attempting to target journalistic and political content, citing a series of takedown orders in the wake of farmer protests.

Asked about the issue at the India Global Forum in Dubai, Mr Chandrasekhar, who handles the information technology and electronics portfolio, told NDTV that he wants to "correct the myth that we are some great takedown nation".

If the absolute figures look large, it is because there are 800 million Indians online. "Our percentage of takedown requests is a fraction of what Germany does, the US does -- as a percentage of total users," he said.