Free Speech Twitter Is Now Globally Blocking Posts Critical of Indian Government | Hacker News Reader

Free Speech Twitter Is Now Globally Blocking Posts Critical of Indian Government

techdirt.com

76 pointsmdhb28 comments

The easiest way to address this, schadenfreude or not, is to banner the site with a disclaimer, i.e., "Some content may not be available in India due to local moderation requirements."

This article seems to be about not showing the content _globally_. It's more than just "not available in India".

The Indian government in the last decade & more has started to feel like they need to either give a response or block any opinion critical or highlighting facts about the situation at hand.

The amount of censuring & critique silencing is insane.

What is the actual tweet that is being "withheld globally"? It's impossible to fairly judge who's in the right here without knowing that.

Shouldn't this info be published elsewhere if it's actually that important?

They’re in this article and seem pretty harmless to me (AKA someone who can’t judge the politics): https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/twitter-takes-down-po...

"Mr. Das said he did not remember the exact context of the tweet."

Sorry, I can't take this guy at his word. Oh I can't remember what I tweeted or why but trust me Twitter was unjustified in taking it down.

Usually the party demanding global censorship bears the burden of explaining why they did the censorship. But I suppose if you’re determined to blame this guy then nothing I say is going to matter.

So you think the person not remembering the “context” of a tweet which quotes a government official is sufficient to be ok with the global censorship of the tweet that does nothing but quote a government official.

I don’t think your comment is indicative of being a lickspittle because you aren’t actually being asked to suck up to Modi and/or Elon by either of them. I’m not really sure how to describe your comment because it’s something much worse.

Oh I'm sorry I expect to actually know what the content being deleted was before passing judgement on whether it's appropriate or not. I suppose I should switch my brain off and pick up a pitchfork whenever someone yells "censorship".

The content of the tweet is in the article. He doesn't remember the context which is different.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1499976967105433600

Is this enough context?

Sorry, I can't take your objections seriously. The tweet itself was pictured in the fine article. (Always a good idea to read TFA before commenting.) “Context” presumably means (exactly as per its definition) “in response to what”, etc.

You don't have to but this baby sitting of what Indians can read or watch is just copying what China does

Musk always said Twitter would follow laws of the countries it operated in.

Go to any Indian news channel, people openly mock Indian government without any repurcussions. Infact some publication with anti Govt, anti India stance thrive within the country. Their journalist are invited to all govt events, same as others. See The Caravan as nlan example of dubious but anti govt publication

What rubbish, the mocking is severely limited to as long as you don't directly name the big bosses or don't criticize the hyped government policies. Yeah you may not be censured by the media, but you will be invited to Jail under treason laws, or be tagged as Anti-National or Anti-social element. And then bakths engage to harass that individual. Multiple individual journalists have been jailed, for asking questions. Unless someone is a well renowned big name, they will for sure be in big trouble. "In fact some publication with anti Govt" is exactly the sad reality for most of the world, journalism is supposed to be critical where needed, you can't say some publications thrive. Journalists aren't supposed to be the friends of govt, tell me why majority of the media in India is never critical on govt. Journalists are invited to all govt event: There have been instances where news channels were banned from attending, or straight up were blocked from telecasting.

Your first 2 lines are factually wrong. Give examples or don't court lies. I can shares clips of news channels directly naming and accussing key govt personell and having no repurcussions. Caravan, the print, scroll , the hindu, NDTV are thriving. Even newslaundry with its tarnished reputation attacks govt on daily basis. Give examples, c'mon.

Also meaning of bhakt is a Hindu devotee which you are using as slur which is hinduphobic. Please refrain from using it.

Talk about playing victim, bakth doesn't mean Hindu devotee. It signifies a person who is devoted to anything, in this case BJP. If using a certain sanskrit word is hinduphobic, probably we Indians can quit internet. Also You are either lying when you say, or so deep in propaganda, when you say NDTV is thriving while Adani(yeah we know where his loyalty lies) has taken over ownership recently. When you say The Hindu is anti-govt, I can understand you don't understand what journalism means. There is no point in discussion of this further, because a quick Google search can show how many journalists have been arrested in bogus cases for asking questions.

Yeah, this is not true at all. The leader of the opposition was literally removed from parliament for mocking the Prime Minister by calling him a thief.

Which is likely not even factually incorrect. PM Cares lol.

Even outside of their jurisdiction?

Germany would disagree.

Blocked in US too not just India

Musk haters^Wcritics: Do you think Twitter instead should block India?

Twitter can do nothing and allow Indians to use Twitter. India would block Twitter, not the other way around.

No one would have to be a "Musk hater" if he didn't prove himself to be a serial liar with no principles. Mark Zuckerberg is a soulless void of greed, but at least he never called himself a "free speech absolutist" or criticized anyone else for their stance on free speech. He lives in a gray area, which is where all people and organizations have to live.

Afaik Twitter still has one office left in India so there is some leverage against local directors etc.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/elon-mu...

Twitter Inc. has shut two of its three India offices ...

Does Musk care about censorship or not? It sure seems like he cares only when it's convenient for him.

Twitter should fight against this censorship, and if needed apply the minumum amount, which would almost certainly not be a _global_ block. They have geo blocks for exactly this purpose.

Everything is not the WWE. There are great replies already to this on the assumption this is a good faith post.

Not all of it, just the government.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com