SAN FRANCISCO – Twitter owner Elon Musk hinted in veiled words that it was difficult to maintain freedom of expression in India due to the country’s strict laws aiming at regulating social media platforms.
Earlier this year, the Indian government banned a BBC documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media. It had asked the Twitter to block dozens of tweets wherein clips of the documentary, which questioned the Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujrat riots, were shared.
“I am not aware of this particular situation… don’t know what exactly happened with some content situation in India,” the billionaire said in an interview with the BBC broadcast live on Twitter Spaces, when asked if the content was removed from the platform at the behest of the Indian government.
“The rules in India for what can appear on social media are quite strict and we can’t go beyond the laws of the country,” he said.
“If we have a choice of either our people go to prison or we comply with the laws, we will comply with the laws…” the Twitter owner said.
