IT Minister says Twitter blocked his account in violation of IT rule

Under the rule social media platforms like Twitter are obliged to serve a notification to the user explaining reason for action before removing account or disabling access

The Twitter vs Centre stand-off was reignited on Friday, when Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was not allowed access to his account for an hour. Prasad, the IT minister, said Twitter blocked his account temporarily citing violation of the new IT Rules notified by his ministry.   

“Friends! Something highly peculiar happened today. Twitter denied access to my account for almost an hour on the alleged ground that there was a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the USA, and subsequently allowed me to access the account,” Prasad tweeted.

The temporary blocking was in response to a copyright issue in a tweet made around three years ago, said people in the know.

The Lumen database submission from Twitter said the complaint was made by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, on behalf of Sony Music Entertainment on May 24, and received by Twitter on June 25.

Prasad said the action was in “gross violation” of Rule 4(8) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. He said Twitter “failed to provide me any prior notice before denying me access to my own account”. 

A Twitter spokesperson said: “We can confirm the Honourable Minister’s account access was temporarily restricted due to a DMCA notice only, and the referenced Tweet has been withheld. Per our copyright policy, we respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorised representatives.”

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Committee on IT will look at the issue and question Twitter India, said Shashi Tharoor, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology.

Prasad added his interviews on Twitter’s non-compliance with the new IT Rules have not gone down well with the platform.

“It is apparent that my statements calling out the high-handedness and arbitrary actions of Twitter, particularly sharing the clips of my interviews to TV channels and its powerful impact, have clearly ruffled feathers,” he said.

The DMCA is a copyright law, under US regulations, used in case an image, service, or property copyrighted by someone is misused. It is, however, a well-established and accepted standard followed by website owners and internet service providers.

It came into existence in 1998, to implement two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties. A DMCA takedown occurs when content is removed from a website at the request of either the owner or copyright holder.

Tharoor tweeted shortly after the minister on Friday: “Raviji, the same thing just happened to me. Clearly, DMCA is getting hyperactive. This tweet has been deleted by @Twitter because its video includes the copyrighted Boney M song "Rasputin". After process, a/c unlocked.”