13.54°C Vancouver

Feb 11, 2021 4:28 PM -

Committed to supporting democratic values: US on Twitter suspending accounts on India's requests

Share On
committed-to-supporting-democratic-values-us-on-twitter-suspending-accounts-on-indias-requests
US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price/ ANI

Responding to queries on Twitter suspending nearly 500 accounts after receiving orders from the Indian government, the US reiterated its commitment to supporting democratic values including freedom of expression.

"What I would say generally, is that around the world, we are committed to supporting democratic values including freedom of expression. I think when it comes to Twitter's policies we would have to refer you to Twitter itself," said US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price, when asked on his comments on the situation.

This comes after Twitter on Wednesday informed that it has taken multiple enforcement actions -- including permanent suspension of over 500 accounts for clear violations of Twitter's rules, in response to the ''legal requests'' from the Indian government.

The social media giant in a statement said, "Separate to our enforcement under the Twitter Rules, over the course of the last 10 days, Twitter has been served with several separate blocking orders by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act."

"We took a range of enforcement actions -- including permanent suspension in certain cases -- against more than 500 accounts escalated across all Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology orders for clear violations of Twitter's Rules," the statement added.

The company informed that they took steps to reduce the visibility of the hashtags containing harmful content, which included prohibiting them from trending on Twitter. This statement came amid the 'Toolkit' controversy surrounding the ongoing farmers' protest.

The Central government on Monday had directed the microblogging platform to remove 1,178 Pakistani-Khalistani accounts spreading misinformation and provocative content on farmers agitation, sources said.

Latest news

BCJun 27, 2025

Two people, including nine-year-old girl, dead after Calgary house fire

Two people, including a nine-year-old girl, are dead following an early morning house fire east of the Calgary airport. The second victim, a man in his 50s, was found deceased inside the home, while the girl was sent to hospital but did not survive. Fire spokeswoman Carole Henke says emergency crews called to the Taradale neighbourhood were met by roaring flames bursting from a two-storey home, threatening other nearby structures. Six people were inside the house: an adult and a teen who escaped through an upper floor window were sent to hospital while two people in the basement suit
statistics-canada-says-real-gdp-down-0-1-per-cent-in-april-as-manufacturing-slowed
CanadaJun 27, 2025

Statistics Canada says real GDP down 0.1 per cent in April as manufacturing slowed

Statistics Canada says real gross domestic product edged down 0.1 per cent in April as the manufacturing sector slowed. The agency also says its advance estimate for May points to another 0.1 per cent decline for that month. The pullback in April came as goods-producing industries fell 0.6 per cent, with manufacturing accounting for nearly all the decline. The manufacturing sector was down 1.9 per cent in April, the largest drop since April 2021. Durable goods manufacturing fell 2.2 per cent in April, while non-durable goods manufacturing dropped 1.6 per cent. Meanwhile, services-producing ind
alberta-finance-minister-to-deliver-year-end-fiscal-update-5-8b-surplus-forecasted
AlbertaJun 27, 2025

Alberta finance Minister to deliver year-end fiscal update, $5.8B surplus forecasted

Alberta's finance minister is set to deliver the final bottom line number today on last year's provincial budget. Nate Horner's new figure will close the books on the budget for the fiscal year that ended in March. That budget was last forecast to come in with a nearly $6-billion surplus. Alberta's new budget year is now a few months old, but its expected bottom line number is deep in the red. This budget, introduced by Horner in February, predicts Alberta will register a $5.2-billion deficit at the end of March 2026. It also predicts deficits will continue for years after that
senate-passes-controversial-bill-to-fast-track-major-projects
CanadaJun 27, 2025

Senate passes controversial bill to fast-track major projects

Parliament has passed controversial major projects legislation that Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada needs to shore up its economy in the face of a trade war with the United States. Bill C-5 gives the federal government sweeping new powers to speed up permitting for what the Liberals call "nation-building projects." The legislation's opponents have attacked the legislation as a massive power grab. Here's what's C-5 does and what people are saying about it.
premier-smith-says-albertans-desire-for-leaving-canada-has-never-been-higher
FeaturedJun 27, 2025

Premier Smith says Albertans' desire for leaving Canada has never been higher

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the public desire in her province to quit Canada has never been higher. Smith says a recent byelection that saw a separatist candidate garner almost 18 per cent of the vote shows Albertans are deeply frustrated and angry with Ottawa. Smith says she takes that frustration seriously and hopes Prime Minister Mark Carney does as well. The premier says quelling separatist desire is in Carney's hands and could be done if he scraps laws that she has said stifle energy production in Alberta. Smith made the comments today at an unrelated news conference in Calgary al

Related News