UP police books Twitter MD, officials in FIR over incorrect map of India

Uttar Pradesh police has booked Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari in a case over a distorted map of India on the career section of the social media platform under the headline "Tweep Life". In this map, the Union Territories of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh were shown outside the boundaries of India.

An FIR was lodged at the Khurja Nagar police station in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district on a complaint by a Bajrang Dal office-bearer. Along with Maheshwari, this FIR also named the Twitter India News Partnerships Head Amrita Tripathi as accused.

They have been booked under the Indian Penal Code section 505 (2)-public mischief and section 74 of the Information Technology Act-a publication for a fraudulent purpose.

This, however, is not the first time Twitter has shown an inaccurate map of India. In 2020, the government of India had conveyed its strong disapproval over the inaccurate Indian map after Twitter showed Leh's geolocation in Jammu and Kashmir, People's Republic of China to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

The government had stated in its warning that any attempt by Twitter to disrespect India's "sovereignty and integrity is totally unacceptable."

Earlier this month, Twitter lost its intermediary platform status in India since it failed to comply with the revised Information Technology regulations that came into effect from May 25. Twitter will now be treated as a publisher and will have editorial responsibility for content on its website and not a platform that hosts content from various users.

Edited by Mehak Agarwal

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