Chandrasekhar said the posts in question during the time of 2021 farmers protest contained “a lot of misinformation,” and reports of genocide that were “definitely fake.” International human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, however, say Indian officials demonized dissenters and punished journalists.
Indian officials have a storied history of taking action against foreign social media companies. Back in 2020, India became one of the first countries to issue a nationwide TikTok ban over perceived national securities concerns, setting a precedent more than a dozen countries would follow. The government also took action against Meta (then called Facebook) in 2016, banning its free but limited “Free Basics” internet service in the country after hundreds of businesses warned it would harm competition. Activists at the time accused the U.S. company of engaging in a digital colonialism.
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Dorsey confident Musk willl ‘figure it out’ on free speech
Dorsey’s comment about the Indian government came in response to a question from host Krystal Ball asking the former CEO to grade Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech on Twitter. Though Dorsey said he hoped Musk would “figure it out” he said the billionaire’s stated principle of adhering to local speech laws leaves this version of Twitter less equipped to push back against legal but oppressive takedown requests from certain governments like India or Turkey.
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In the latter case, Musk was criticized by free speech proponents and human rights groups after the company restricted access to certain accounts at the behest of the Turkish government just days before a major presidential election. That kowtowing to government pressure stands in stark contrast to Twitter’s response during the Dorsey era, where the company sued both the Turkish and Indian governments over attempts to target specific users.
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“He can always be compelled,” Dorsey said of Musk. “He is one person, he is one single point of failure and pressure can be put on him. This is going to be the reality for any centrally controlled company.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Dorsey explained his support for 2024 presidential candidate and flaming anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Twitter co-founder admitted he had only discovered Kennedy this year, but said he warmed up to the politician after binge-listening to podcasts he’d appeared on.
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“There’s an edge,” Dorsey said of Kennedy. “There’s no fear in explaining a topic that might be a little bit controversial.”
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