Tesla founder Elon Musk invoked the Indian government in his response to Twitter's lawsuit against not going through with the proposed deal that entailed buying the social media behemoth for $44 billion. Listing the reasons for backing out from the much-hyped deal, Musk submitted in the court that the company didn't disclose it had filed "risky" litigation against the government of Twitter's third-largest market. He also claimed he was hoodwinked into entering the deal by Twitter's management. Musk made these allegations in a countersuit he filed in a Delaware court.
According to court documents, Elon Musk said Twitter must follow the local law in India. He also described himself as a proponent of free speech and said moderation of Twitter should "hew close to the laws of the countries it operates in".
The court documents made public on Thursday were accessed by New York Times. An excerpt reads, "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".
Twitter denied the allegations.
The company said in its response that Twitter has 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, activists and journalists.
Twitter is contesting the Indian government's order in the Karnataka High Court contending their India business would shut down if they complied with the order to block content. The High Court would hear the matter next on August 25.
Musk has put the deal on hold saying his team is reviewing the veracity of Twitter's claim that it has only 5 percent of bot accounts on its platform. The company said he is stalling the deal due to what it called a loss of interest.
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With inputs from ANI
