Government lauds SC ruling on free speech, Twitter 'very excited' (Third Lead)

Welcoming the Supreme Court's decision to quash Information Technology Act's section 66A on Tuesday, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said people in power should be tolerant towards criticism, while visiting Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo called the judgment "very exciting".

"We welcome this decision by the Supreme Court. The government is committed to free speech. India is a democratic country and free flow of ideas should be respected. We do not seek to curtail any right," Prasad told reporters in a press meet here.

He, however, said it was important to have self-regulation as well when expressing thoughts in social media.

"There are lakhs of people in India indulging in social media. I am a supporter of self-regulation and would like to say it is important to have self-regulation," he said.

He said social media platforms should also practise some "self-restraint" but stressed the government did not favour gagging dissent or criticism.

"We respect communication of ideas on social media, (are) not in favour of curtailing honest criticism, dissent on social media," he said.

The Supreme Court struck down section 66A, holding it violates the constitution's article 19(1)(a) which guarantees freedom of speech.

Costolo, who is on his first India visit, said Twitter will ensure that its users' "voices" are defended, while making it harder for any "abuse" to take place.

Describing the apex court judgment as "very exciting", Costolo told reporters: "We have a great reputation as a company for defending and respecting our users' voices. We will defend and protect our users' interests across the world."

Pointing out that Twitter has already made it "a lot easier to report abuse", Costolo said:" We will continue to make it harder (for those who abuse). We have made it a lot easier to report abuse."

Earlier on Tuesday, Twitter launched Twitter Samvad in collaboration with the Indian government so as to allow people to receive tweets as SMSes from government offices, including the Prime Minister's Office.

The service was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his meeting here with Costolo.