The Indian government calls Twitter’s ex-CEO’s claim an “outright lie.”
According to co-founder Jack Dorsey, India, Nigeria, and Turkey threatened to shut down Twitter unless it restricted accounts.
On Monday, Dorsey, who resigned as Twitter CEO in 2021, said India threatened to shut down the firm and raid staff if it did not remove postings and limit accounts critical of the government over 2020 and 2021 farmer protests.
“It manifested in ways such as: ‘We will shut Twitter down in India’, which is a very large market for us; ‘we will raid your employees’ homes’, which they did; and this is India, a democratic country,” Dorsey told YouTube news show Breaking Points.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Dorsey’s claims “outright lies.”
Twitter was not “shut down” or imprisoned. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, junior minister for information technology, said that Dorsey’s Twitter regime didn’t recognize Indian law.
Farmers’ protests over agricultural reforms lasted a year and were among Modi’s biggest challenges. After securing concessions, farmers stopped protesting in late 2021.
“India had many requests of us around the farmers’ protest, around particular journalists that were critical of the government,” Dorsey stated.
The Indian government requested “emergency blocking” of the “provocative” Twitter hashtag “#ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide” and dozens of accounts during protests.
Twitter first obliged but reinstated most accounts, citing “insufficient justification” for the suspensions.
In later weeks, Indian authorities raided a Twitter headquarters to investigate modified governing party messages. Twitter concerns about staff safety.
Dorsey also claimed pressure from Nigeria and Turkey, which had previously banned the platform.
Dorsey told Breaking Points that Twitter could not send personnel to Nigeria for fear of government reprisals.
Nigeria’s president from May 2015 to May 2023, Muhammadu Buhari, had a tense relationship with Twitter, which youth, civil society, and dissidents used to expose government human rights crimes.
In June 2021, Nigerian Information Minister Lai Mohammed accused Dorsey of destroying state property and killing people during October 2020 rallies over police brutality.
The official referenced Dorsey’s tweet supporting protesters’ Twitter fundraising.
After Twitter removed Buhari’s message threatening regional secessionists in 2021, Africa’s largest democracy suspended Twitter. Twitter opened a local office and made other arrangements with authorities in January 2022, lifting the seven-month ban.
“Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which such legislation has been built,” National Information Technology Development Agency director general Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi stated at the time.
Twitter’s compliance with the conditions is unknown.
Twitter inaugurated its Africa office in Ghana in April 2021, citing its support for free speech and online freedoms. The new office sought a Nigeria-focused curator.
Elon Musk’s takeover closed the office and fired the workforce.
“Turkey is very similar [to India],” Dorsey told Breaking Points. We won many Turkish court cases, but they threatened to shut us down.” Nigerian and Turkish officials remained silent.
