After a video of two Manipur women being paraded naked by a mob and sexually assaulted sparked outrage, the Centre has asked Twitter and other social media platforms to take down the video.
Key points
- Tweets of some accounts that had shared the video have been withheld in India, in response to the government’s demand.
- The Centre has powers to issue content takedown orders to social media companies under Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
- Section 69 of the IT Act allows the government to issue content-blocking orders to online intermediaries such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecom service providers, web hosting services, search engines, online marketplaces, etc.
- The Section requires the information or content being blocked to be deemed a threat to India’s national security, sovereignty, or public order.
