UP Police files FIR against Twitter officials over distorted India map

The police in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district have lodged an FIR against two senior officials of Twitter India over the social media platform putting up a distorted map of India.

The FIR was lodged at the Khurja Nagar police station on Monday evening on the basis of a complaint by an office-bearer of right wing Bajrang Dal.

The map, which showed the Union Territories of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir outside India, was noticed on Monday, leading to an uproar by netizens.

Twitter had removed that map on Monday evening.

"The world map does not show Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir as parts of India. This is not a coincidence. This act has hurt the sentiments of Indians, including me," Bajrang Dal's western UP convenor Praveen Bhati said in the complaint.

The FIR names Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari and News Partnerships Head Amrita Tripathi as accused who have been booked under Indian Penal Code section 505 (2) (public mischief).

Charges under Information Technology Act section 74 (publication for fraudulent purpose) have also been invoked in the case, according to the FIR, seen by PTI.

The map's glaring distortion, which appeared on the career section of Twitter website under the header 'Tweep Life', had triggered a heavy backlash from netizens on Monday as they demanded strict action against the microblogging platform that has flouted various rules on multiple occasions in the past.

Earlier, Twitter had shown Leh as part of China.