Twitter feud: Govt says must follow Indian laws; experts weigh in

The government has toughened its stance against Twitter by making it clear that though they are welcome to do business in India, they must abide by the laws of the nation.

The Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology (MeitY), in a statement released late last night expressed its displeasure over what it calls Twitter's differential treatment of the Capitol Hill incident and the violence in Delhi on Republic Day.

Further, the government has objected to Twitter's refusal to take action against accounts of journalists, activists, politicians despite them allegedly spreading misinformation about the farmers' protest. Twitter said that the government's blocking orders do not go hand-in-hand with their principles of defending freedom of expression.

The government has rebutted saying that spreading misinformation, which can provoke a situation is neither journalistic freedom nor freedom of expression. Speaking in the Parliament today, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made the government's stance clear - social media platforms are free to do business and make money, but they will have to follow the Indian law.

To discuss this, CNBC-TV18's Ashmit Kumar spoke to R Chandrashekhar, former secretary of telecom, Mishi Choudhary, legal director at Software Freedom Law Centre and Sanjay Hegde, senior advocate at the Supreme Court.