Earlier today, Indian IT Minister RS Prasad tweeted about his account being restricted for almost an hour. The minister also shared screenshots of Twitter’s messages, telling the minister that his account was locked in relation to a DMCA violation.
We contacted Twitter for a statement and the platform confirmed it had “temporarily restricted” the minister’s account. Twitter also defended its move by mentioning it was in line with the company’s copyrights policy.
Twitter Withholds IT Minister’s Tweet
Apart from temporarily restricting the minister’s account, Twitter has also withheld the tweet that was in violation of the DMCA. Here is the full statement that Fossbytes received from a Twitter spokesperson:
“We can confirm that the Honourable Minister’s account access was temporarily restricted due to a DMCA notice only and the referenced Tweet has been withheld. Per our copyright policy, we respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorized representatives. As per our last Twitter Transparency Report, we regularly share the total number of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices and counter-notices received for Twitter.”
Twitter Spokesperson on restricting RS Prasad’s account and withholding his Tweet.
Withholding in terms of Twitter and tweets on its platform means that the company has held back the Tweet by temporarily hiding it. The tweet in question may be restored after the DMCA is sorted out.
Twitter hasn’t responded to Ravi Shankar Prasad’s remarks on the platform being in violation of the new IT Rules. However, it has defended its action of restricting the Minister’s account and withholding a tweet.
