Twitter is facing new threats of legal action in India according to founder Jack Dorsey, Tech Crunch reports. The Indian government has repeatedly asked for certain posts and accounts to be suspended, mostly those in connection with a major farmer protest.
According to Dorsey, the Indian government has threatened to raid offices and residences of Twitter workers in their country if their demands are not met. In 2021, India released new regulations that Twitter has been slow to adapt to, which it only did just before Elon Musk purchased the platform.
While in America, threats to free speech have come mostly from private companies, most of the world has stricter interpretations of “free speech” and the exceptions it can invoke. Fake News or misinformation is a common violation in other countries, where supposed truth is allowed to be legislated.
Twitter and other tech companies, despite being founded in the United States, have to comply with foreign laws if they hope to have a global reach. The crucial problem remains whether Twitter and others will mandatorily enforce foreign laws on Americans if permitted by US law.
More and more internet traffic is monitored and protected by the nations, making the digital economy just as regulated as the physical one. People can use Virtual Private Networks in an attempt to circumvent these restrictions, but installing the software in a country where internet surveillance is already in place can also be challenging.
