‘Deliberate’: Centre puts Twitter on notice for showing Leh as part of J&K

The ministry of Electronics and IT has issued a notice to Twitter seeking explanation in five days as to why legal action shouldn’t be taken against the social media platform for disrespecting India’s territorial integrity as Twitter has shown Leh as part of J&K, not Ladakh.

The notice has been sent to global Vice President of Twitter, people familiar with development said. It also termed the mistake as an “deliberate attempt to undermine the will of sovereign Parliament of India” which had declared Ladakh as a Union Territory of India with its headquarters in Leh.

Ministry in its notice sent to global Vice President of Twitter has mentioned that showing Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir is a deliberate attempt by Twitter to undermine the will of sovereign Parliament of India which had declared Ladakh as a Union Territory of India with its headquarter in Leh.

A Twitter spokesperson said they have responded to the letter and shared a comprehensive update with the government. “Twitter remains committed to partnering with the Government of India and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to serve the public conversation. We have duly responded to the letter and, as part of our correspondence, shared a comprehensive update with the latest developments regarding the geo-tag issue,” the spokesperson said.

This goof-up adds to series of mistakes that Twitter has recently done in geo-tagging. Earlier, Twitter had shown Leh as part of China after which secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT had written to Twitter CEO raising an objection. In response, Twitter had rectified the error. But it has not yet corrected the map to show Leh as part of Union Territory of Ladakh, the ministry said.

Recently, a parliamentary committee reviewing India’s privacy bill observed that Twitter’s explanation on showing Ladakh as part of China was inadequate. The act accounts to a criminal offence with an imprisonment of seven years.