Police in India stormed Twitter’s office in New Delhi last month and among them were officials from a special cell that normally investigates crimes such as terrorism.
The reason for the raid: a decision by the microblogging site to label a tweet by the spokesman of the country’s ruling party as “manipulated media”.
The incident is considered to be a flashpoint in increasingly tense relations between US social media companies and authorities in the second-biggest internet market.
The raid came before new information technology rules for social media companies came into effect at the end of May. The rules were introduced in February, triggering privacy and data control concerns.
Under the new framework, large social media companies – both foreign and local – are required to appoint compliance executives to co-ordinate with law enforcement officials, set up mechanism to address grievances and remove content within 36 hours if they receive a legal order to do so.
They also must disclose the “first originator of information” if authorities demand it.
“Social media platforms will initially have a tough time complying with the new IT rules,” says Ashok Kadsur, co-founder of SignDesk, an IT company in Bengaluru.
“These rules will require social media giants to pour more resources into regional operations and create an efficient system to streamline the massive number of grievances that will undoubtedly be coming their way.”
The stakes are enormously high. With a large and young population, India is a lucrative market for global social media companies, which have invested heavily in the country.
The country had about 448 million social media users as of January this year, up by 21 per cent on annual basis, according to figures published by DataReportal and Hootsuite.
Capturing market share in India is also essential for companies such as Google and Facebook, as growth in the US and Europe plateaus.
“In the past, social media giants could have pushed back against these new rules,” says Mr Kadsur.
“However, with markets in Europe and the US slowly reaching saturation, platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are now placing all their eggs in India’s basket.”
The issues social media companies face in India are part of a much broader battle between big technology companies and authorities in other parts of the world.
A global debate is raging on ways to enforce regulatory controls without jeopardising privacy and freedom of speech in democratic countries.
The government cited the need to maintain “law and order and national security” as a key factor behind the new rules.
However, companies are concerned that the rules could compromise data privacy and curtail freedom of expression.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp – which has 400 million users in India, its biggest market – has filed a lawsuit against the Modi administration.
However, pressure is mounting on these companies and Twitter has already come under fire from the government over its delayed compliance.
The government told Twitter this month that it was being given a final chance to comply or face “unintended consequences”, Reuters reported, quoting an official letter.
With about 17.5 million users, India has Twitter’s third-largest user base worldwide, after the US and Japan.
Twitter told The National that it "remains deeply committed to India" and has assured the government that it "is making every effort to comply with the new guidelines and an overview on our progress has been duly shared".
The company says it will continue its “constructive dialogue with the Indian government”.
Industry insiders say social media companies will eventually have to fall in line.
“India’s a very crucial market for these companies,” says Mehar Gulati, founder of public relations and social media agency Scarlet Relations.
“The companies will have no choice but to comply with the regulations if they wish to continue their operations.”
However, legal experts say Indian government rules are in conflict with privacy guidelines of social media companies.
“This is the main issue between the government and the companies, as an argument of infringement of access to privacy is being made,” says Ashutosh Shekhar Paarcha, a Supreme Court advocate.
“The underlying issue is that [some of] these companies have already boasted to their users about their privacy ... and how they provide end-to-end encryption.”
Social media platforms will initially have a tough time complying with the new IT rules
The companies fear a major reduction in users if they comply with the new rules, he says.
WhatsApp has long assured users that its app is “end-to-end encrypted”, which means they can communicate without their messages being stored or visible to others.
This is a major draw for those who are increasingly becoming concerned about privacy.
However, the messaging app “does not have a great case [in court]” and the best option might be “back door conversations with the government to try to reach consensus”, says Mr Paarcha.
WhatsApp’s parent company Facebook said last month that it intends to “comply with the provisions of the IT rules and continue to discuss a few of the issues, which need more engagement with the government.
Pursuant to the IT rules, we are working to implement operational processes and improve efficiencies”.
The social media company stressed that it “remains committed to people’s ability to freely and safely express themselves on our platform”.
There has been some underlying tension between the Indian government and social media companies in the past over content posted on these platforms.
Last month, they were ordered to take down posts that criticised the Indian government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic amid a deadly second wave of infections. The companies complied with the request in the Indian market.
In a separate incident in February, Twitter refused to block some accounts that criticised India’s controversial farm reforms.
However, if social media companies do not comply with the new rules, “the likely consequences could vary on a spectrum from mere fines being levied to the other extreme that they may be banned in India”, says Mr Paarcha.
Local employees also face the risk of imprisonment if their companies do not follow the new code.
The government has already proved that it is willing to take strict measures, says Mr Paarcha. Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, which was immensely popular in India, was banned last year amid border tensions with China.
Industry experts say the best course of action for India’s social media companies is to push for the Modi administration to relax the rules.
“It is important to come to a mutual agreement which benefits the government ... [and is also] in public interest,” says Husain Habib, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Hats-Off Digital, a digital media marketing agency.
“If it is a fair deal for both; the companies themselves will abide by the regulations imposed.”
However, the issue is complex and there is unlikely to be a quick fix.
While the authorities are “only doing their job”, they are also taking away the user’s right to privacy and trying to dictate terms in the world’s largest democracy, says Mr Habib.
Company profile
Name: GiftBag.ae
Based: Dubai
Founded: 2011
Number of employees: 4
Sector: E-commerce
Funding: Self-funded to date
The specs: Macan Turbo
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 639hp
Torque: 1,130Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 591km
Price: From Dh412,500
On sale: Deliveries start in October
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Lowdown
Us
Director: Jordan Peele
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseqph, Evan Alex and Elisabeth Moss
Rating: 4/5
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Teams in the EHL
White Bears, Al Ain Theebs, Dubai Mighty Camels, Abu Dhabi Storms, Abu Dhabi Scorpions and Vipers
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
The bio:
Favourite holiday destination: I really enjoyed Sri Lanka and Vietnam but my dream destination is the Maldives.
Favourite food: My mum’s Chinese cooking.
Favourite film: Robocop, followed by The Terminator.
Hobbies: Off-roading, scuba diving, playing squash and going to the gym.
Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Profile Periscope Media
Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)
Launch year: 2020
Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year
Investors: Co-founders
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Brief scores:
Day 1
Toss: South Africa, field first
Pakistan (1st innings) 177: Sarfraz 56, Masood 44; Olivier 4-48
South Africa (1st innings) 123-2: Markram 78; Masood 1-4
Results
ATP Dubai Championships on Monday (x indicates seed):
First round
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5)
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x4) 6-4, 6-1
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x7) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
ENGLAND TEAM
Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
The specs: 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali
Price, base / as tested Dh207,846 / Dh220,000
Engine 6.2L V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque 624Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined 13.5L / 100km
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Places to go for free coffee
- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2014
Number of employees: 36
Sector: Logistics
Raised: $2.5 million
Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
Naga
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Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
The five pillars of Islam
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
