Twitter Says Concerned About Safety of India Staff After Police Visit

Twitter said on Thursday it was worried about the safety of its staff in India, days after police visited its office as part of a probe related to the social media firm's tagging of certain posts as manipulated.

"Right now, we are concerned by recent events regarding our employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people we serve," a Twitter spokeswoman said.

Indian police on Monday visited a Twitter office to serve a notice to the micro-blogging firm's country head for a probe into its tagging of a tweet by a ruling party spokesman as "manipulated media".

Without directly referring to the Delhi police action, Twitter said: "we, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service."

Leaders of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party recently shared portions of a document on Twitter they said was created by the main opposition Congress party and highlighted government failures in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Congress complained to Twitter saying the document was fake, after which Twitter marked some of the posts as "manipulated media".

Twitter has been battling with the government since February after the technology ministry asked it to block content alleging Modi's administration was trying to silence criticism related to farmer protests in the country.

© Thomson Reuters 2021