Twitter states copyright infringement for blocking IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s account

NEWS

By Pallavi Paul

The new IT Act Rules that came into effect  on February, 2021 gave rise to a series of arguments between Twitter and the Central Government. Amidst this, Twitter blocked Union Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s account temporarily for an hour on June 25, citing copyright violation. The Minister expressed his anger on Twitter for the temporary suspension of his account and termed it an ‘arbitrary decision’. The reason stated by Twitter for blocking the account was ‘copyright violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of USA’. 

NEWS

By Pallavi Paul

In addition, a warning was also attached, which stated that any additional notices against the account might result in the account getting blocked or permanently suspended, which can be avoided by not posting any additional material that violates the platform's copyright policy. The Copyright policy of Twitter responds to the copyright  complaints received under the DMCA Act of the US. In the case of Ravi Shankar Prasad, Twitter, as stated, had received DMCA notices from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (FPI) alleging that the Minister’s tweets included video song of ‘A.R Rahman’s: Maa Tujhe Salam’ which infringed the original copyrighted works owned by Sony Music Entertainment. 

NEWS

By Pallavi Paul

Though Twitter has explained that the reported users receive a copy of the complaint, which will include all the details of the reporter, the Minister has stated it had not received any prior notice before getting access denied to his account. As per Twitter, the reported user can also file a counter-notice concerning the complaint if they believe that the complaint is vague or the user has been misidentified. The Minister concluded that this act of blocking makes it apparent why Twitter is not ready to comply with the new Intermediary guidelines as it would be unable to make arbitrary blocking of individual accounts not suiting their agenda.