Defiant Twitter blocks IT Minister Prasad’s account

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Union Minister for Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday said Twitter denied him access to his account for almost an hour over complaints that he violated the US copyright law by posting clips of himself from television debates.</p>
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"Twitter denied access to my account for almost an hour on the alleged ground that there was a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the USA and subsequently they allowed me to access the account," Prasad said in a series of tweets.</p>
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"It is apparent that my statements calling out the high handedness and arbitrary actions of Twitter, particularly sharing the clips of my interviews to TV channels and its powerful impact, have clearly ruffled its feathers," The minister said.</p>
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<strong>Also read:</strong>  <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/latest-news/parliament-panel-summons-twitter-over-misuse-of-its-platform-95356.html">Parliament panel summons Twitter over misuse of its platform</a></p>
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A Twitter spokesperson admitted the incident had taken place, saying, "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. As per our copyright policy, we respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorised representatives.”</p>
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The flare up comes amid the tussle between the government and the social media giants over the new rules for the websites which require them to appoint India-based compliance executives and take down objectionable content within 48 hours. Twitter has failed to fully comply with the rules which has raised the issue that it may no longer enjoy protection against user-generated content.</p>
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"Further, it is now apparent as to why Twitter is refusing to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines because if Twitter does comply, it would be unable to arbitrarily deny access to an individual's account which does not suit their agenda," Prasad wrote.</p>