Twitter Loses 'Legal Protection' In India After Failing to Comply With New Regulations

Twitter, Inc. TWTR is facing the heat in India after the short-messaging social media platform failed to comply with the government's new regulations even with an extended timeline past a May 25 deadline.

What Happened: Due to Twitter's non-compliance with all the provisions of the new regulation, it has lost its protection as an intermediary, according to media reports in India that cited government sources. 

For the unversed, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology formulated stricter regulation for entities that qualify as a "significant social media intermediary," which would include those with registered users in excess of 5 million.

The new regulations call for removal of any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours, setting up a robust complaint redressal mechanism and identification of the first originator of messages shared on the platforms, among other things.

It is on account of the intermediary status that these companies are exempted from liabilities for third-party information hosted on the platforms.

Related Link: Twitter's Stock Looks Ready For A Gap Fill

Why It's Important: The new turn of events will mean Twitter will be held responsible for all tweets disseminated through its platform. The company will not be considered as a platform hosting information from third-party but will be held editorially responsible for the posts.

In a first salvo fired at Twitter, the police department of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has named it in a first information report filed in connection with an incident that occurred in the state. The incident relates to the assault of a Muslim man in the state in early June.

The government's contention is that Twitter, several journalists and opposition parties incited communal sentiment through posts sharing the aggrieved man's allegations.

Twitter could not only face criminal charges but its executives could be summoned for questioning on any content on its platform the government feels is unlawful or inflammatory.

Twitter Takes Reconciliatory Approach: Amid these incidents, Twitter has said it is continuing to maintain its cooperative stance and that it is making every effort to comply with the new guidelines.

It was only earlier this month that Nigeria temporarily banned Twitter in the country.

Incidentally, other U.S.-based social medial platforms such as Facebook, Inc. FB and Alphabet, Inc. GOOGL-owned YouTube, though not fully compliant, took a more cooperative approach and signaled that they would enact the changes sought over time.

Twitter shares were trading 1.06% higher at $60.86 at last check Wednesday. 

Related Link: India Accuse Twitter Of 'Dictating Terms' in Largest Democracy: Bloomberg