Last week, Mr. Maheshwari was summoned by the Uttar Pradesh Police over another FIR after the posts – linked to the assault of a Muslim man in UP’s Ghaziabad – sparked controversy. The Karnataka High Court, however, recently granted him anticipatory bail.
Manish Maheshwari, the head of Twitter India was booked on Tuesday by the UP Police after an FIR was filed over the distorted map of India shown by the microblogging platform. The complaint was filed by a Bajrang Dal leader in Bulandshahr.
The distorted map – displayed in the “Tweep Life” section of Twitter’s website – was removed Monday after it was flagged by a user. It showed J&K and Ladakh as separate countries triggering outrage on social media.
UP Police has registered FIR under Section 505 (2) of IPC and Section 74 of IT (Amendment) Act 2008 against Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari, for showing wrong map of India on its website, on complaint of a Bajrang Dal leader in Bulandshahr.
— Prashant Umrao (@ippatel) June 29, 2021
“This act of treason has been committed intentionally and action should be taken,” reads the complaint filed by right-wing group Bajrang Dal’s leader Praveen Bhati, NDTV reported.
The case has been filed under Section 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and Section 74 of IT (Amendment) Act 2008.
Amrita Tripathi, Head, News Partnerships, Twitter India, has also been named in the complaint, filed in UP’s Bulandshahr, about 100 km from Delhi.
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Last week, the Twitter India head was summoned by the Uttar Pradesh Police over another FIR after the posts – linked to the assault of a Muslim man in UP’s Ghaziabad – sparked controversy. The Karnataka High Court, however, recently granted him anticipatory bail.
This is not the first time the microblogging site posted a distorted map of India. In October 2020, Twitter had shown Leh as a part of the People’s Republic of China.
More recently, the government also revoked Twitter’s intermediary status, thus making it directly accountable for the content posted on the social media platform.
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