The Special Cell of Delhi Police has questioned Twitter India Managing Director (MD) Manish Maheshwari in connection with the probe into the alleged 'Covid toolkit' issue.
According to a senior police official, a team was sent to Bengaluru where Maheshwari was questioned on May 31 in connection with the alleged 'Covid toolkit' matter. The police, however, did not divulge details of the questioning but said he was also questioned about the company's policy behind flagging tweets as manipulated.
The Delhi Police had also issued an official statement earlier saying the statements by Twitter on the ongoing probe in the toolkit case were mendacious, and designed to impede the lawful enquiry and seek dubious sympathy.
The strongly-worded statement, which also termed Twitter’s conduct obfuscatory, diversionary and tendentious", came after the social media firm Thursday called the recent visit by a Delhi police team to its offices a form of intimidation. Twitter also said it was concerned about its employees and the potential threat to freedom of expression.
The row over the purported ‘Covid toolkit’ escalated after the Delhi Police's Special Cell visited two Twitter India offices on May 24 and served a notice, asking it to share information based on which it had classified a related tweet by Sambit Patra as “manipulated media”.
The police action drew sharp criticism from the opposition Congress and Left which accused the Government of trying to stifle free speech and indulge in intimidation.
Last month, Twitter labelled as "manipulated media" a tweet by Patra on the alleged 'toolkit'. Twitter says it may label Tweets that include media (videos, audio, and images) that have been deceptively altered or fabricated.
The Congress had claimed it was a vindication of its stand.
But the Government had asked Twitter to remove the 'manipulated media' tag as the matter is pending before the law enforcement agency, and made it clear that the social media platform cannot pass judgment when the issue is under investigation.