t

os
W26368

TWITTER INDIA: AT A CROSSROADS BETWEEN FREEDOM OF

EXPRESSION AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY1

rP
Anupama Prashar and Parul Gupta wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to
illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other
identifying information to protect confidentiality.

This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized, or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the
permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights

yo
organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western
University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveypublishing.ca. Our goal is to publish
materials of the highest quality; submit any errata to publishcases@ivey.ca. i1v2e5y5pubs

Copyright © 2022, Management Development Institute Gurgaon and Ivey Business School Foundation Version: 2022-03-09

In February 2021, the Indian government announced its introduction of the new Information Technology
(Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules.2 The government claimed that these rules
op
would increase the accountability of social media companies and reduce the misuse of online platforms for
spreading fabricated news and misinformation. However, the new rules were not welcomed by some
prominent market giants, including Twitter Inc. (Twitter).

Twitter alleged that the new rules were aimed at suppressing citizens’ freedom of speech in one of the
world’s largest democracies.3 The social media platform argued that every voice was important; therefore,
tC

freedom of expression should be protected.4 Twitter had numerous Indian users who relied on the online
platform for business, public debate, creating brand awareness, recruitment, political campaigning, and
communication. However, in recent times, Twitter had been receiving criticism from Indian regulators for
its inability to prevent the spread of misinformation, hate speech, obscene content, and support for political
manipulation and conspiracy theories.5 Twitter denied the allegations, claiming that it had robust user
agreements in place such as its terms of service, privacy policy, and several other rules and policies for user
safety and content authenticity.6 Indian regulators countered that Twitter’s existing terms failed to closely
monitor the user-generated content that was shared across the platform.7 Twitter and other major social
No

media networks had faced similar criticism from regulators in other parts of the world, including the United
States,8 Australia,9 the United Kingdom, and the European Union.10

With rising incidents of misuse among Twitter users in India, the online platform had to consider its future
in India, a major global democracy. Was Twitter fulfilling its responsibility to its users?11 How could
Twitter apply ethical business standards to address content moderation of misinformation and
unsubstantiated rumours? As an open platform, should it have more restrictive terms of service for its users?
Do

The world’s democratic countries generally provided constitutional protection for freedom of expression.
However, a pertinent question for regulators was whether public speech and debate on social media should
be self-regulated or government-regulated.

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 2 W26368

t
TWITTER INDIA

os
Twitter was a microblogging12 social networking platform owned by the San Francisco, California,
company Twitter Inc. In April 2021, the platform was estimated to have a presence in twenty-five countries,
with 199 million daily active users.13 Twitter was founded in March 2006 by a group of entrepreneurs and
the former Google LLC employees Noah Glass, Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone. Its largest
audience, with 77.75 million users, was in the United States, followed by Japan with 58 million users.14

rP
Twitter was originally established as a free short message service platform for communication in virtual
communities. Eventually, it became a popular tool that was used extensively by political figures and their
followers across the world, particularly during elections.15

In India, Twitter’s journey had been principally marked by public dialogue about major events such as the
unpredicted 2013 Delhi state election results, India’s 2011 victory in the Cricket World Cup championships, and
the 2012 public protests against the government’s failure to protect women.16 Twitter partnered with various

yo
Indian technology start-ups, such as the mobile platform Zipdial, to reach a user base across the country that was
widely deprived of data connectivity.17 It also teamed up with Indian film stars, such as Amitabh Bachchan and
Shah Rhuk Khan, to test innovations such as its Twitter Audio Card and to extend the functionality of the brand.
India was the third-largest market for Twitter, with an active user base of 17.5 million.18

TWITTER FOR GOOD: “WE SERVE PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS”

op
Twitter’s Mission and Vision

As clearly stated on its official website, Twitter strived to bring the company and the community together for a
greater good. The platform’s purpose and goals were explicitly laid out in its vision and mission statement:
“Reach the largest daily audience in the world by connecting everyone to their world via our information sharing
tC

and distribution platform products and be one of the top revenue-generating Internet companies in the world.”19
The open service platform considered itself home to a world of diverse people, viewpoints, philosophies, and
information. According to its vision statement, the platform believed in the freedom of expression and considered
that every voice was important to the world. It proclaimed to support equality, free expression, civil liberties, and
equal opportunities in all domains of science and technology. The platform also aimed to help people inculcate
good digital habits and follow safety measures for online communication.20

The platform hosted vibrant and diverse public dialogues, and strived to grow its audience in a socially
No

responsible manner. Toward its commitment to earn the trust of its stakeholders and the public in general,
Twitter asserted that it followed sound corporate governance and robust ethics and compliance
procedures.21 To reinforce its vision and mission to serve the world by facilitating the exchange of
information, ideas, and dialogues on diverse and important issues, it published its first Global Impact
Report.22 The platform claimed that ensuring privacy of user data, a safe space to talk freely, and operational
transparency were its top priorities, and to do so, the company would keep improving the privacy controls,
technology, tools, and processes.23
Do

Twitter’s Revenue Model

Anyone could create a free account on Twitter and instantly share opinions globally, which raised the
obvious question of how Twitter generated revenue.

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 3 W26368

t
In 2019, Twitter earned US$3 billion24 in profits from advertising services and $500 million from data

os
licensing to businesses. Twitter’s revenue model was in glaring contrast to that of its competing social
media platforms—Facebook and YouTube—who were earning most of their profits from data licensing
and messaging services.25 In 2020, Twitter recorded a 7.4 per cent increase in revenue, with advertising
services again contributing the bulk of its earnings, at 86 per cent.26 After going public in November 2013,
the company made a series of acquisitions in the advertising and technology field to remain competitive,

rP
acquiring the software companies Magic Pony Technology, Periscope, and Gnip Inc.27

Twitter’s source of revenue could thus be broadly classified into two categories: advertising services and
data licensing services.

Advertising Services

yo
Twitter’s advertising services exhibited various specially promoted products and services:

Twitter algorithms featured specific promoted tweets, which appeared on the timelines of users based on
their likes and dislikes. The idea was to temper the user’s interest in specific products and services and
enhance the featured brand’s visibility.

Twitter made suggestions to users to follow other users they might find interesting. These suggestions were
op
based on the user’s demographics and overall activity on the platform. These promoted accounts offered
an opportunity for business firms to create a community of Twitter users with an interest in their products
and services who could become potential clients.

Twitter also promoted some popular hashtags each day that exhibited a trending topic in that particular
geographical area. Advertisers allocated a budget at the beginning of a campaign and paid for the number
tC

of retweets, clicks, and forwards. These promoted topics or trends were used to target a community of
interested users by streaming video or message advertisements. This process allowed business firms to
enhance user engagement with their brand.28

Data Licensing
No

Tweets generated enormous amounts of data for Twitter each day and the company offered access to it as
part of its data licensing services. Data partners could search, access, and analyze the publicly generated
data in real time or on a historical basis29 (see case Exhibit 1).

With a daily active user base of 17.5 million, Twitter was one of the smaller social media networks in India.
Its user base consisted of only 1 per cent of the total Indian population. In comparison, Twitter’s user base
in the United States was five times larger, despite a much smaller population. In India, various other popular
social media platforms were much more popular. The messaging application WhatsApp had 530 million
users, the video-sharing platform YouTube had 448 million users, and Facebook had over 410 million users
Do

in February 2021.30
Twitter was also far behind its competing social media platforms in terms of revenue. In 2019, Twitter
generated $3.5 billion in revenue, whereas Facebook earned $71 billion.31 However, Twitter’s impact on
every aspect of life and society was considerable. It was among the few online platforms with a substantial
contribution in shaping and scaling social media. It became the preferred social network of marketers.32 As
well, it gained popularity among politicians, social activists, and journalists.

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 4 W26368

t
In terms of country-based presence, Twitter boasted vast user bases in the world’s two largest democracies:

os
the United States and India. In April 2021, Twitter had 73.2 million active users in the United States and
18.8 million active users in India (see Exhibit 2).33 Although it had started out as a social media platform,
it soon became an increasingly relevant instrument for political dialogue at the national and international
levels. In 2020, Twitter users included heads of state, central government leaders, and foreign ministers of
189 countries.34 Powerful celebrities in the political arena, including former US presidents Barak Obama

rP
and Donald Trump, as well as India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, were prolific Twitter users. The
platform was serving as a promotional vehicle for the policies and communications of political heads and
government officials.35 However, in addition to gaining significant attention from researchers, sports
writers, entertainment personalities, and numerous event promoters, Twitter’s popularity also grew
considerably for political manipulators, conspiracy theorists, spreaders of misinformation, hate speech
promoters, and misleading news outlets.36

yo
AT THE CROSSROADS OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND SOCIAL MEDIA ABUSE

With a growing concern of social media accountability for the misuse of social media platforms in spreading
fabricated news, blasphemy, child pornography, obscene images, and breach of data privacy and security,
Twitter found itself on the wrong side of the law. Giant democracies such as the United States, India, and
the United Kingdom advocated for freedom of expression but were increasingly concerned about spread of
misinformation, purposely misleading news, and hate speeches. The January 6, 2020 attack on the US
op
Capitol was reportedly planned using social networking services such as Parler and messaging applications
such as Gap and Telegram.37 In 2017, Twitter, as well as Facebook, faced warnings of sanction for
supporting Russian misinformation campaigns to impact European Union referendum results.38 The
profusion of misinformation on COVID-19 vaccines and medicines became a top-level concern in Australia
and the Asia-Pacific region, where vast segments of the population were frequent social media users.39
tC

Social contract theory assumed that an implied agreement existed between business and society, where
companies earned profits by serving the interests of society (i.e., consumers and employees), but Twitter
seemed to be breaching that contract.40

Social Cost of Social Media to the World’s Most Populous Democracy—India

Twitter was at the crossroads of freedom of expression and social media abuse in India, the world’s largest
No

democracy. With an estimated 680 million active Internet users,41 India’s social media networks and
applications, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, were an integral part of
the country’s typical Internet user, who spent over 180 minutes per day on social media. In comparison, the
global average for daily social media use was 145 minutes.42 Social media platforms were also highly
popular with businesses looking to create brand awareness, companies looking for suitable candidates, and
political parties promoting their campaigns and messages. A 2019 report on global trends found that all
major political parties involved in India’s 2019 general election had used social media to connect their
leader with the voting public.43 As dependence on social media platforms increased, so did instances of
Do

social media misuse and attempts to spread content that flared up communities, threatened the dignity of
women, and endangered national security.44

Twitter was blamed for causing discord and unrest during India’s nationwide protests against farming
policies passed by the Indian parliament in September 2020.45 On January 26, the Indian Republic Day,
violence erupted among a group of protesting farmers that caused harm to people and extensive damage to
public property at the national capital. In February 2021, the Indian government sent Twitter a legal notice

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 5 W26368

t
and directive to remove any tweets with provocative hashtags and to block over 1,435 user accounts

os
associated with Indian farmer protests.46 Initially, Twitter reportedly suspended 250 accounts, but quickly
restored many of them within six hours, citing “insufficient justification for suspension” as its reason.
However, Twitter eventually suspended 1,400 out of the requested 1,435 accounts (some of them
permanently) after receiving another government order and warning.47

rP
The utilitarian theory of ethics objected to governments conducting a cost-benefit analysis of potential
courses of action and choosing the one that generated the greatest total utility. Theorists believed that this
approach valued doing what was good (based on consequences) over doing what was right (based on
actions). They argued that questioning actions was only acceptable to make affected people happy and keep
them away from harm. Twitter’s decision to restore suspended accounts would be criticized by these
theorists, believing that the best action in a given situation was the one that brought the best results for the
greatest number of affected people.48

yo
Twitter was also held accountable for not supervising third-party content published on the platform, which
led to inciting unrest on several occasions. On June 5, 2021, an assault in Ghaziabad, a city in the Indian
state of Uttar Pradesh with a vast Muslim population, was sparked by a misleading video of an elderly
Muslim man being harassed on religious grounds.49 In a 2021 lawsuit, the National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights blamed Twitter for allowing access to child pornography.50 In another event
related to India’s ongoing farmer protest, the government expressed its disapproval of the use of Twitter by
Greta Thunberg, a world famous Swedish climate activist. The government claimed that Thunberg had used
op
Twitter to share guidelines and advice with the farmers in support of the protest.51

In May 2021, Twitter labelled tweets by India’s ruling party leaders, including the party’s spokesperson, as
“manipulated media.”52 The tweets accused the opposition political party of creating a “toolkit” to tarnish the
ruling party’s image during the COVID-19 pandemic.53 The Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology also held Twitter responsible for allowing the promotion of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among
tC

the public.54 A press release by the ministry stated, “Promoting vaccine hesitancy has been rampantly done
using the Twitter platform and yet Twitter has taken no action. Is this commitment to the people of India?”55

In June 2021, tensions between the state and the platform further intensified when a user flagged an error
on a map on Twitter that depicted the state of Kashmir as a separate country.56 The matter was a sensitive
issue in India, stemming from a prolonged territorial conflict over the Kashmir region.57 In an earlier
occasion, in October 2020, a distorted map of India had also appeared on Twitter representing Leh-Ladakh,
No

a union territory of India, as a part of China.58 Around that same time, Twitter temporarily denied account
access to India’s Minister of Information Technology on the grounds that the minister had violated the US
Digital Millennium Copyright Act.59

Twitter’s Stand for Its Mission and Vision: Defending Freedom of Expression and Protecting Speech

A rocky relationship had developed between Twitter and the Indian government and regulators. In early
2021, the microblogging platform had been in conflict with Indian regulators and law enforcement agencies
Do

on multiple issues associated with its alleged unaccountable practices of content sharing. These practices
were seen as adversely influencing public opinion in general, and particularly against the ruling party’s
policies.60 In 2020, India was among five countries accounting for 96 per cent of all legal requests to remove
content from the platform. Approximately 6,000 requests came from the Indian government for information
related to user accounts.61

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 6 W26368

t
Twitter countered that the Indian political leadership was using the premise of misinformation to censor its

os
citizens from online speech and to suppress their right to freedom of expression.62 Twitter refused to believe
that the user accounts it was directed to remove were in any way inconsistent with Indian laws. Following the
company’s core values and principles of defending freedom of expression and protected speech, the platform
refused to take any action on user accounts owned by media, social activists, politicians, and journalists. To
do so, Twitter believed, would infringe the fundamental right to free expression protected under the Indian

rP
constitution.63 However, the company initiated a range of enforcement actions by suspending more than 500
accounts that were engaged in apparent violation of Twitter’s policy for the prevention of platform
manipulation and spam. It was further clarified that Twitter treated the misinformation based on the potential
harm to the real world.64 Lauren Myers-Cavanagh, the head of policy communications for Twitter Asia-
Pacific, supported the impartial and judicious nature of Twitter’s policy, claiming that the platform used
proprietary content evaluation technology and third-party resources to evaluate content fabrication based on
three factors: synthetization or manipulation, public safety, and deception.65

yo
Justifying its stand on protecting free speech, the company argued that Twitter existed to empower voices
that needed to be heard, at a time when open Internet and freedom of expression were under threat around
the world. The platform was committed to continuously improving its services to facilitate public
conversation, irrespective of its own perspective and views. The platform proclaimed that it was striving to
make users feel safe in participating in public conversations.66 Twitter stated, “We will continue to advocate
for the right of free expression on behalf of the people we serve. We are exploring options under Indian
law—both for Twitter and for the accounts that have been impacted. . . . We will continue to maintain a
op
dialogue with the Indian government and respectfully engage with them.”67

Twitter’s refusal to remove user content from its platform in defence of freedom of expression and speech
was consistent with the perspectives of deontology theorists, who argued that the fundamental rights of
human beings had to be protected and respected in all decisions. They claimed that individuals and
organizations framed their rules according to what they thought was right or wrong. Therefore, deontology
tC

extended to personal and organizational rules, such as corporate codes of ethics that detailed an
organization’s moral duty to do or not do something.68

SELF-REGULATION TO GOVERNMENTAL REGULATION

Social media platforms, including Twitter, defined themselves as “agnostic” distributors, claiming to be
No

unbiased carriers who assumed no responsibility for the content that was published and circulated through
their platforms. They argued that it was not their right or duty to censor the content that they did not create.69
Social media platforms contended that, acting like a publisher, the platform’s manager reserved the right
to editorial discretion over what would be published on their platform. But they were quite different from
traditional publishers.70 Typically, the role of social media content regulators arose only after a user
violated the platform’s policy and standards. Therefore, these ex-post decisions were less expected than
an ex-ante editorial decision. The platform’s manager chose to moderate social media content
expressively, favouring some values over others. The act of moderation would be expressive and usually
protected by the law of the land.71
Do

For a long period, social media platforms were largely self-regulating, as long as they adhered to local laws
that governed illegal and unacceptable content. The unprecedented rise in misuse of social media platforms
encouraged the voice of critics, who demanded that independent rules be applied to ensure the safety of
people and their information online.72

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 7 W26368

t
New Information Technology Rules in India

os
In February 2021, amid the ongoing dispute between Twitter and the Indian government, the Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology enacted the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and
Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, which applied to social media platforms. The new rules were intended
to regulate online content and create a grievance handling mechanism. The aim was to enable a swift

rP
response to legal requests to remove posts, among other things. The ministry granted a period of three
months before social media intermediaries, digital news providers, and over-the-top content providers that
fell under the purview of these new rules would be required to comply.73

Effective May 2021, social media intermediaries such as Twitter and Facebook were required to establish
a three-level grievance redressal mechanism to handle public grievances in a timely manner.74 At the first
level, every intermediary was required to appoint resident grievance officers for the timely redressal of
complaints. At the second level, intermediaries had to be members of a self-regulatory body guarding the

yo
code of ethics and to be registered with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. At the third level, an
oversight mechanism was to be established in form of an interdepartmental committee that comprised
members from other ministries, including the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Under the new
rules, intermediaries were required to explain to users the mechanisms for raising a complaint related to
any content on the platform and ensure its acknowledgment within twenty-four hours of receiving the
complaint, with redressal within fifteen days. In the case of non-compliance, the intermediary would lose
legal immunity (i.e., liability against third-party content).
op
Nevertheless, expert opinions on the implications of the new Information Technology Rules were mixed.
According to the Economic Transcript, the rules required platforms to disclose the identity of the content’s
“originator,” which had ramifications on the freedom of online speech, user privacy, and access to
information.75
tC

Social Media Governance in Other Parts of the World

In recent years, social media giants such as Twitter had fallen continually under government scrutiny in
many countries, allegedly because they wielded enormous power to influence society at large.76
Governments across the world were introducing regulatory provisions to prevent misuse and abuse by
online platforms and establish accountability by social media companies for illegal content on their
platforms. The Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG law) introduced by Germany in 2017 required social
No

media companies to regularly review their platform’s content and remove unlawful material within twenty-
four hours of it being posted; otherwise, the platform would be liable for hefty monetary penalties.
Similarly, in Australia the 2019 Sharing Abhorrent Violent Material Act provided criminal prosecution and
monetary penalties for inaction by social media companies. China blocked Twitter and other social media
sites (e.g., Google and Facebook), claiming that they spread politically sensitive content.77

In 2020, the three social media giants, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok were cautioned by the UK
government after failing to remove and limit the spread of unlawful content from their platforms. According
Do

to a newly proposed law, social media platforms were expected to ensure the safety of children online and
to protect them from being exposed to bullying, pornography, or child grooming (i.e., befriending and
establishing an emotional connection with a child). Regulators warned that non-compliance would result in
fines of up to 10 per cent of the platform’s revenue. According to new rules that were proposed to be
introduced in the next year, social media platforms operating in the United Kingdom were required to have
clear policies for content that, even though not illegal, could harm the public’s interest.78

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 8 W26368

t
The European Commission also proposed new rules to hold social media platforms accountable for sharing

os
disinformation. The new rules would require platform owners to produce proof of action taken against
misinformation. Věra Jourová, the European Commission’s vice-president for values and transparency,
stated that “threats posed by disinformation online are fast evolving, and we need to step up our collective
action to empower citizens and protect the democratic information space.”79 Oliver Dowden, the digital
secretary of Britain, stated, “We are entering a new age of accountability for technology to protect children

rP
and vulnerable users, to restore tr t his industry, and to enshrine in law safeguards for free speech.”

THE MAKE-OR-BREAK POINT

Twitter, along with other major social media companies, opposed the Indian government’s introduction of
its new Information Technology Rules. The Facebook-owned online messaging platform WhatsApp
strongly objected to a rule that required tracing the source of messages, claiming it constituted a violation

yo
of privacy policy.80 United Nations special rapporteurs voiced concerns that India’s new rules were not
aligned with international human rights and effectively suppressed freedom of expression, which could lead
to human rights violations. The rapporteurs further stated that the new regulations empowered regulators to
censor journalists.81

Amid louder voices for and against independent governmental regulations for social media companies, as
well as a changing political and legal environment, Twitter faced a make-or-break point. How could the
op
online platform successfully serve its vision and mission while complying with local laws and regulations?
tC
No
Do

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 9 W26368

t
EXHIBIT 1: TWITTER’S BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM

os
rP
yo
op
Source: Adapted from Roel Wieringa, “A Business Model of the Twitter Ecosystem,” The Value Engineers, October 23, 2020,
https://www.thevalueengineers.nl/a-business-model-of-the-twitter-ecosystem.
tC

EXHIBIT 2: ACTIVE USERS OF TWITTER IN SELECTED COUNTRIES (IN MILLIONS)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
United States 73.2
54.15
India 18.8
No

18.3
Brazil 17.9
15.1
Turkey 15.1
13
Mexico 12.05
9.24
Philippines 8.9
8.45
Thailand 8.35
7.6
Germany 7.35
Do

Note: Of the fifteen countries shown in Statista’s graph, only eight are identified in the exhibit (every other one on the list).
Source: Statista Research Department, “Leading Countries Based on Number of Twitter Users,” Statista, August 2, 2021,
https://www.statista.com/statistics/242606/number-of-active-twitter-users-in-selected-countries.

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 10 W26368

t
ENDNOTES

os
1
This case has been written on the basis of published sources only. Consequently, the interpretation and perspectives
presented in this case are not necessarily those of Twitter Inc. or any of its employees.
2
Yuthika Bhargava, “New IT Rules: Centre Seeks Compliance Report from Intermediaries,” The Hindu, May 27, 2021,
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/new-it-rules-centre-seeks-compliance-report-from-
intermidiaries/article34652065.ece.
3
M.K. Venu, “Invoking Free Speech Violations over New IT Rules, Big Media Finally Goes to Court,” The Wire, June 25, 2021,

rP
https://thewire.in/government/invoking-free-speech-violations-over-nw-it-rules-big-media-finally-goes-to-court.
4
Venu, “Invoking Free Speech Violations.”
5
Soutik Biswas, “The Indian Government’s War with Twitter,” BBC News, February 12, 2021,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56007451.
6
“Twitter Terms of Service,” Twitter, accessed May 15, 2021, https://twitter.com/en/tos.
7
Biswas, “The Indian Government’s War with Twitter.”
8
Jane Wakefield, “Google, Facebook Twitter Grilled in the US on Fake News," BBC News, April 14, 2021,
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56523378.
9
AP, “‘Too Little, Too Late:’ Social Media Has a Covid Vaccine Misinformation Problem. Here’s What Experts Suggest,” The

yo
Economics Times, August 2, 2021, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/too-little-too-late-social-media-
has-a-covid-vaccine-misinformation-problem-heres-what-experts-suggest/articleshow/84970594.cms?from=mdr.
10
“‘Fake News’ Inquiry Asks Facebook to Check for Russian Influence in the UK,” The Guardian, October 24, 2017,
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/24/fake-news-inquiry-asks-facebook-check-russian-influence-uk-mark-zuckerberg.
11
Manas Tiwari, “Twitter Loses Its Intermediary Status in India, Here Is What It Means,” India Today, June 16, 2021,
https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/features/story/twitter-loses-its-intermediary-status-in-india-here-is-what-it-means-
1815491-2021-06-16.
12
Microblogging involved the online broadcast of small content files called “tweets,” in the form of short sentences, video links, or images.
13
Statista Research Department, “Leading Countries Based on Number of Twitter Users,” Statista, August 2, 2021,
https://www.statista.com/statistics/242606/number-of-active-twitter-users-in-selected-countries.”
op
14
Statista Research Department, “Leading Countries.”
15
A. Jungherr, “Twitter Use in Election Campaigns: A Systematic Literature Review,” Journal of Information Technology &
Politics 13, no. 1 (2016): 72–91.
16
Sohini Mitter, “How Twitter Changed Its Mind on India,” Forbes India, January 19, 2015,
https://www.forbesindia.com/printcontent/39391.
17
Bibhu Ranjan Mishra, “Twitter Makes First India Acquisition with ZipDial,” Business Standard, January 21, 2015,
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/twitter-makes-first-india-acquisition-with-zipdial-
115012000329_1.html.
tC

18
Statista Research Department, “Leading Countries.”
19
“Twitter Mission, Vision & Values,” Comparably, accessed August 13, 2021,
https://www.comparably.com/companies/twitter/mission.
20
“Twitter Mission, Vision & Values.”
21
“Twitter Mission, Vision & Values.”
22
Twitter Inc., “Introducing Twitter’s Global Impact Report,” Twitter, April 7, 2021,
https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2021/introducing-twitters-global-impact-report
23
“About Security and Privacy,” Twitter, accessed June 11, 2021, https://about.twitter.com/en/our-priorities/security-and-privacy.
24
All currency amounts are in US dollars.
No

25
Roel Wieringa, “A Business Model of the Twitter Ecosystem,” The Value Engineers, October 23, 2020,
https://www.thevalueengineers.nl/a-business-model-of-the-twitter-ecosystem.
26
“Twitter Business Model Case Study,” What Is the Business Model Of, May 31, 2020,
https://whatisthebusinessmodelof.com/business-models/twitter-business-model.
27
Statista Research Department, “Twitter’s Revenue from 1st Quarter 2011 to 2nd Quarter 2021,” Statista, July 23, 2021,
https://www.statista.com/statistics/274568/quarterly-revenue-of-twitter.
28
Twitter Business, “Connect with the People at the Center of What’s Happening,” Twitter, September 11, 2021,
https://business.twitter.com/en/advertising.html.
29
Dipak Shenvi, “How Does Twitter Make Money: Analyzing the Revenue Model,” The Strategy Story, May 21, 2021,
https://thestrategystory.com/2021/05/21/twitter-revenue-model.
30
Statista Research Department, “Number of Social Media Users in India 2021, by Platform,” Statista, April 29, 2021,
Do

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1232311/india-number-of-social-media-users-by-platform.
31
Wieringa, “A Business Model of the Twitter Ecosystem”; Mansoor Iqbal, “Twitter Revenue and Usage Statistics (2021),”
Business of Apps, July 5, 2021, https://www.businessofapps.com/data/twitter-statistics.
32
“Twitter Business Model Canvas: Overcome Stalling Growth,” Innovation Tactics, February 1, 2020,
https://innovationtactics.com/twitter-business-model-canvas.
33
Statista Research Department, “Leading Countries Based on Number of Twitter Users.”
34
Statista Research Department, “World Leaders with the Most Twitter Followers 2020,” Statista, January 27, 2021,
https://www.statista.com/statistics/281375/heads-of-state-with-the-most-twitter-followers.
35
Statista Research Department, “World Leaders with the Most.”

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 11 W26368

t
os
36
Robinson Meyer, “The Grim Conclusions of the Largest-Ever Study of Fake News,” The Atlantic, March 9, 2018,
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/largest-study-ever-fake-news-mit-twitter/555104>.
37
Jane Wakefield, “Google, Facebook, Twitter Grilled in the US on Fake News,” BBC News, March 25, 2021,
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56523378.
38
“Fake News’ Inquiry Asks Facebook to Check for Russian Influence in the UK,” The Guardian, October 24, 2017,
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/24/fake-news-inquiry-asks-facebook-check-russian-influence-uk-mark-zuckerberg.
39
AP, “‘Too Little, Too Late.’”

rP
40
Ben Wempe, “In Defense of a Self-Disciplined, Domain-Specific Social Contract Theory of Business Ethics,” Business Ethics
Quarterly 15, no. 1 (2005): 113–35.
41
Statista Research Department, “Social Media Usage in India—Statistics & Facts,” Statista, August 2, 2021,
https://www.statista.com/topics/5113/social-media-usage-in-india.
42
Statista Research Department, “Daily Time Spent on Social Networking by Internet Users Worldwide from 2012 to 2020,”
Statista, June 30, 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide.
43
Anuradha Rao, “How Did Social Media Impact India’s 2019 General Election?,” Economic and Political Weekly, December
18, 2019, https://www.epw.in/engage/article/how-did-social-media-impact-india-2019-general-election.
44
“Twitter Has to Comply with New IT Rules for Digital Media, Says HC,” Business Standard, May 21, 2021,

yo
https://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/twitter-has-to-comply-with-new-it-rules-for-digital-media-says-hc-
121053100449_1.html.
45
Biswas, “The Indian Government’s War with Twitter.”
46
DH Web Desk, “How Greta Thunberg’s ‘Toolkit’ Tweet Set India Abuzz,” Deccan Herald, February 16, 2021,
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/how-greta-thunbergs-toolkit-tweet-set-india-abuzz-951755.html.
47
DH Web Desk, “Greta Thunberg’s ‘Toolkit’ Tweet.”
48
Andrej Zwitter, “Big Data Ethics,” Big Data & Society 1, no. 2 (2014): 1–6.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053951714559253.
49
“Ghaziabad Assault Case: Notice to Twitter India MD,” The Hindu, June 18, 2021,
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ghaziabad-assault-case-notice-to-twitter-india-md/article34846242.ece.
op
50
“Now, the Case against Twitter for ‘Giving Access to Child Porn,’” The Hindu, June 30, 2021,
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/case-against-twitter-for-giving-access-to-child-porn/article35045243.ece.
51
DH Web Desk, “Greta Thunberg’s ‘Toolkit’ Tweet.”
52
Twitter’s policy on synthetic and manipulated media stated that any tweet in the form of video, audio, or image that was
deemed “likely to cause any harm” was labelled as manipulated media and the company restricted its sharing, as well as
suspending the user account in case of repeated violations; “Synthetic and Manipulated Media Policy,” Twitter, accessed
January 24, 2022, https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/manipulated-media.
53
Himanshu Mishra, “Toolkit Case: Govt Asks Twitter to Remove ‘Manipulated Media’ Tag, Say Sources,” India Today, May 22, 2021,
tC

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/toolkit-case-govt-twitter-manipulated-media-tag-sources-1805534-2021-05-22.
54
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, “Twitter Needs to Comply with the Laws of the Land,” Government of
India, May 27, 2021, https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1722252.
55
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, “Twitter Needs to Comply.”
56
Hannah Ellis-Petersen, “Twitter in India Faces Criminal Charges for Kashmir Map ‘Treason,’” The Guardian, June 29, 2021,
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/29/twitter-in-india-faces-criminal-charges-for-kashmir-map-treason.
57
Ellis-Petersen, “Twitter in India Faces.”
58
India.com News Desk, “Twitter Shows Leh as Part of China, India Warns CEO Dorsey against Misrepresentation of Map,”
India.com, October 22, 2020, https://www.india.com/news/india/twitter-shows-leh-as-part-of-china-india-warns-against-
No

misrepresentation-4181473.
59
“India’s IT Minister Criticizes Twitter for Denying Access to the Account,” Reuters, June 25, 2021,
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-it-minister-slams-twitter-denying-access-account-2021-06-25.
60
John Xavier, “How Twitter Fell Out of Favor with the Union Government,” The Hindu, June 2, 2021,
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/how-twitter-fell-out-of-favour-with-the-union-government/article35018840.ece.
61
“Twitter Receives Record Number of Gov’t Requests to Remove Posts,” Aljazeera, January 26, 2022,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/26/twitter-sees-record-number-of-govt-demands-to-remove-content.
62
Shirin Ghaffary, “A Major Battle over Free Speech on Social Media Is Playing Out in India during the Pandemic,” Vox, May
1, 2021, https://www.vox.com/recode/22410931/india-pandemic-facebook-twitter-free-speech-modi-covid-19-censorship-
free-speech-takedown.
63
S. Ronendra Singh, “Twitter Explores Options under India Laws; Defends Itself on Freedom of Speech,” Business Line,
Do

February 10, 2021, https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/social-media/twitter-explores-options-under-indian-law-

defends-itself-on-freedom-of-speech/article33799043.ece.
64
Manish Singh, “Twitter Suspends over 500 Accounts in India after Government Warning,” TechCrunch, February 9, 2021,
https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/09/twitter-takes-actions-on-over-500-accounts-in-india-amid-government-warning; Editorial,
“Politics of Regulating Digital Media While Ensuring the Accountability of Big Tech, the IT Rules Must Not Stifle Free Speech,”
Economic and Political Weekly, March 20, 2021, https://www.epw.in/tags/information-technology-rules-2021.
65
Ankit Kumar, “Twitter Flags Sambit Patra Tweet: A Look at How It Detects Manipulated Media,” India Today, May 21, 2021,
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/twitter-flags-sambit-patra-tweet-twitter-policy-on-manipulated-media-1805359-2021-05-21.
66
“Updates on Our Response to Blocking Orders from the Indian Government,” Twitter, February 10, 2021,
https://blog.twitter.com/en_in/topics/company/2020/twitters-response-indian-government.

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 Page 12 W26368

t
os
67
“Govt–Twitter Row: Meity Says Twitter’s Freedom of Expression Blog Post Usual,” Mint, February 10, 2021,
https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/govttwitter-row-meity-says-twitter-s-freedom-of-expression-blog-post-unsusual-
11612945678211.html.
68
Gerald F. Cavanagh, Dennis J. Moberg, and Manual Velasquez, “The Ethics of Organizational Politics,” Academy of
Management Review 6, no. 3: (1981): 363–74; Nathalia Christiani Tjandra, Lukman Aroean, and Yayi Suryo Prabandari,
“Public Evaluation of the Ethics of Tobacco Marketing in Indonesia: Symbiotic Ethical Approach,” Qualitative Market Research
4, no. 23 (2020): 603–26.

rP
69
John Howell, “What Is the Social Responsibility of Social Media?,” Triple Pundit, August 21, 2018,
https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2018/what-social-responsibility-social-media/12591.
70
US Supreme Court, “Miami Herald Pub. Co. v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241 (1974),” Justia, accessed January 24, 2022,
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/418/241.
71
Mark Zuckerberg, “A Blueprint for Content Governance and Enforcement,” Facebook, November 15, 2018,
https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/a-blueprint-for-content-governance-and-
enforcement/10156443129621634.
72
“Regulator Ofcom to Have More Powers over UK Social Media,” BBC News, February 12, 2020,
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51446665.

yo
73
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, “The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media
Ethics Code) Rules, 2021,” February 25, 2021, https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-information-technology-intermediary-
guidelines-and-digital-media-ethics-code-rules-2021.
74
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, “Digital Media Ethics Code,” Government of India, accessed May 18, 2021,
https://mib.gov.in/sites/default/files/FAQs%20on%20Digital%20Media%20Ethics%20Code.pdf.
75
Indrani Mukherjee, “The Revised IT Rules—Do the Pros Outweigh the Cons?,” The Economic Transcript, June 4, 2021,
accessed July 14, 2021, https://tetofficial.com/revised-it-rules.
76
Devin Coldewey, “Who Regulates Social Media? Good Question!,” TechCrunch, October 20, 2020,
https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/19/who-regulates-social-media/?guccounter.
77
Li Yuan, “A Generation Grows Up in China without Google, Facebook or Twitter,” The New York Times, August 6, 2018,
op
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/06/technology/china-generation-blocked-internet.html.
78
“Facebook, Twitter Face UK Fines If They Fail on Harmful Content,” Aljazeera, December 15, 2020,
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/12/15/facebook-twitter-face-uk-fines-if-they-fail-on-harmful-content.
79
Jaclyn Diaz, “Europe Wants Social Media Giants to Do More to Stop Disinformation,” National Public Radio, May 26, 2021,
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/1000390936/europe-wants-social-media-giants-to-do-more-to-stop-disinformation.
80
“WhatsApp: Facebook-owned App Goes to Court over India Privacy Rules,” BBC News, May 26, 2021,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57251612.
81
Prasid Banerjee, “India’s IT Rules Do Not Conform with International Human Rights: UN Special Rapporteurs,” Mint, June
tC

10, 2021, https://www.livemint.com/news/india/indias-it-rules-do-not-conform-with-international-human-rights-un-special-

rapporteurs-11624033126565.html.
No
Do

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Bobbie Pham, University of National Economics until Dec 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860