Elon Musk invokes Indian government in counter-suit against Twitter

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New
Delhi,
Aug
05:
Tesla
founder
Elon
Musk
in
his
response
to
Twitter’s
lawsuit
against
not
going
through
with
the
proposed
deal
invoked
the
Indian
government.
He
said
in
his
response
for
backing
out
of
the
$44
billion
deal
that
Twitter
did
not
disclose
it
had
filed
risky
litigation
against
government
of
Twitter’s
third
largest
market.

He
also
said
that
he
had
been
hoodwinked
into
entering
the
deal
by
Twitter’s
management.
The
allegations
were
made
in
a
counter-suit
he
filed
in
a
court
at
Delaware.

Twitter
must
follow
the
local
law
in
India,
he
said
while
describing
himself
as
a
proponent
of
free
speech.
The
moderation
of
Twitter
should
hew
close
to
the
laws
of
the
countries
it
operates
in.

“In
2021,
India’s
information
technology
ministry
imposed
certain
rules
allowing
the
government
to
probe
social
media
posts,
demand
identifying
information,
and
prosecute
companies
that
refused
to
comply.
While
Musk
is
a
proponent
of
free
speech,
he
believes
that
moderation
on
Twitter
should
hew
close
to
the
laws
of
countries
in
which
Twitter
operates,”
an
excerpt
reads
according
to
a
report
in
the
New
York
Times.

Twitter
sues
Elon
Musk
after
he
tries
backing
out
of
billion
deal

Twitter
said
that
it
had
challenged
certain
blocking
orders
under
Section
69A
of
the
Information
Technology
Act
as
it
directed
the
company
to
remove
content
that
is
linked
to
politicians,
journalists
and
activists.

Twitter
which
is
fighting
the
case
in
the
Karnataka
High
Court
said
that
its
India
business
would
close
down
if
it
complied
with
the
order
to
block
content.
The
matter
is
coming
up
for
hearing
next
on
August
25.

Musk
put
the
deal
on
hold
and
said
that
his
team
is
reviewing
the
veracity
of
Twitter’s
claim
that
it
has
only
5
per
cent
of
bot
accounts
on
its
platform.
The
company
said
he
stalling
the
deal
due
to
what
it
called
a
loss
of
interest.