A few days ago, Delhi police stormed Twitter's offices, demanding an explanation for Twitter's earlier labelling of a tweet by a spokesman for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as "manipulated media content."

Twitter said in a statement that Indian police used "intimidation tactics" and was concerned about the freedom of speech of employees and users in India. The statement criticized India's new Information Technology Rules targeting social media as "restricting free and open public dialogue."

The Indian government responded with a statement on the Indian social media platform Koo, accusing Twitter's statement of trying to issue orders to one of the world's largest democracies. Legislation and policy making are "the sole prerogative of the sovereign," the statement said, and social media platforms like Twitter have no right to dictate what India's legal policy framework should look like.

The Indian government has been wrangling with social media platforms over new IT regulations in recent months. The new regulations require platforms to remove illegal posts at the government's request and to assist police in investigations, including identifying the "original sender" of posts that "undermine India's sovereignty, national security or public order." The regulations also require platforms to appoint an ombudsman to deal with complaints and reports.

Some critics believe that the Modi government is using new IT regulations to suppress online criticism of the government. Modi, who had high popularity in the past, has recently declined sharply due to the out-of-control epidemic and the collapse of the medical system. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to which he belongs has lost in local elections, putting the Modi government under great pressure.

Faced with the government's approach, another giant, Facebook Group, decided to take the initiative to fight back. WhatsApp, which has 500 million users, has filed a lawsuit against the Indian government in an attempt to block the implementation of the new regulations. In a statement, WhatsApp said enforcing the tracking of messages and identities, tantamount to requiring the sender of every message to be fingerprinted, would undermine end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermine privacy rights.

this is just the beginning

For now, giants such as Facebook and Google still say they will work hard to comply with the new regulations, but they also say they want to negotiate with the authorities. Some experts believe that the Indian government will not completely block platforms for not complying with the new regulations for the time being, but may fine or prevent these companies from developing business in India. But Devdutta Mukhopadhyay, a lawyer who focuses on freedom of speech in India, said the new law is like a spell, and the government will call it when it wants to.

The Delhi High Court today issued a notice to Twitter on a petition alleging Twitter's alleged non-compliance with the new regulations. The petition sponsor, Amit Acharya, said he could not find the ombudsman's details on Twitter, in violation of the new regulations. The petitioners also allege that Twitter's appointment of an American as its ombudsman is also inconsistent with the new rules. Twitter responded that the company has appointed an ombudsman and will comply with the new regulations. The petition hearing will be held on June 6.