India, Nigeria, and Turkey have threatened to shut Twitter down unless the social media company complies with orders to block accounts and remove content.
Twitter co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey revealed this during his recent interview with the YouTube channel Breaking Points.
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KNUTSFORD, UNITED KINGDOM APRIL 21: In this photo illustration the Twitter logo is seen on a computer screen and mobile cellphone on April 21, 2023 in Knutsford, United Kingdom.
Twitter Faces Threats of Platform Ban
India, Nigeria, and Turkey threatened Twitter to ban the social media platform for not complying with orders to restrict accounts and removing posts spreading misinformation.
In an interview with Breaking Points on Monday, Jack Dorsey discussed different topics, including the ban threats that Twitter gets from various nations, Elon Musk's ownership of the platform, AI regulation, and more.
But the interview mainly focused on his concerns regarding the potential ban of his founded platform because of failed compliance with different countries.
"India for example, India is a country that had many requests of us around the farmers protest, around particular journalists that were critical of the government," the former Twitter CEO said.
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Twitter in India
Business Today reported that Jack Dorsey's interview clip was shared on Twitter by Srinivas BV, National President of the Indian Youth Congress.
According to Dorsey, India also threatened Twitter with raids on employees if it did not comply with the requests of the Indian government to take down certain posts during the farmers' protest.
In 2021, farmers in India ended a year of protests after winning concessions from the government regarding certain laws related to farming. It was considered one of the biggest demonstrations faced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
At that time, fake news was reportedly spreading on Twitter, which had the potential to inflame the situation further. Rajeev Chandrashekhar, India's federal deputy minister for information technology, said Tuesday that Twitter was in repeated violations of Indian laws and started complying with the country's laws only in June 2022.
Chandrashekhar noted that allegations by Dorsey that the company was threatened with a shut down were an "outright lie." He said in a Twitter post that "no one went to jail, nor was Twitter 'shut down," adding that "Dorsey's Twitter regime had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law."
Twitter in Other Nations
Aside from India, Jack Dorsey also mentioned similar pressure from Turkey and Nigeria's governments that restricted Twitter in their nations at different points over the years before lifting those bans.
While the company fought in its courts and often won, Reuters reported that Turkey still continues to threaten the platform with a constant shutdown.
Twitter was suspended in Turkey in 2021 after removing a post from former President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists. The platform's ban was lifted in early 2022 after the company agreed to open a local office and other requests made by the government.
In the same interview with hosts Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, Dorsey also described some of the moves made by Twitter owner Elon Musk as "fairly reckless." Business Insider reported that he expressed support to the newly appointed CEO, Linda Yaccarino, as Musk stepped down from his CEO position.
"But I do have confidence that he'll figure it out. I do have confidence in his new CEO. I own three percent of this new company, so I'm supportive," Dorsey noted.
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