Pakistan stated on Monday that it was extremely concerned about reports appearing in Indian and US media that the Indian government had sought to undermine Twitter’s security by pressuring it to hire an Indian ‘agent/representative’ to gain access to its system.
According to media sources, the subject was raised when Twitter briefed India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology, whereby legal depositions taken in the US by a former Twitter employee were also covered, according to a Foreign Office (FO) statement.
It lamented the fact that many Twitter accounts, notably those of Kashmiri political figures and media figures, continue to be restricted as a result of India’s pointless legal arguments. Only a month ago, Pakistan also lodged a strong protest with the Indian government over the country’s decision to limit access to the content of a number of its diplomatic missions’ Twitter accounts as well as the country’s public radio station, Radio Pakistan, it continued.
Pakistan condemns India’s blatant abuse of state power and use of coercive measures to control and forcibly regulate the online environment. These measures not only go against international standards, commitments, norms, and frameworks for information flow, but they also illustrate India’s alarmingly rapid reduction of the space for diverse views and restriction of fundamental liberties. Pakistan also urged India to stop using deceptive tactics to maintain control over the global Internet domain and to immediately unblock the Twitter accounts of Pakistan’s diplomatic missions and Radio Pakistan.
India was also urged to uphold established international norms and standards of freedom of expression as espoused by the UN. In a whistleblower statement to US authorities, a former Twitter security head reportedly claimed that the Indian government pressured the social media company to hire a government agent. Peiter “Mudge” Zatko filed a complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission about this and other alleged security breaches at Twitter. In a redacted version of the lawsuit, which the Washington Post published and which Zatko’s lawyer at Whistleblower Aid confirmed, he alleged that Twitter’s insufficient security procedures would have given the government agent access to sensitive user data.
Without going into additional detail, a corporate source told Reuters that the accusations against the Indian government have already appeared on Twitter. Twitter sued the Indian government in July, citing official misconduct and requesting a local court to overturn various government orders to remove information from the social networking platform. According to Zatko’s complaint, the corporation did not disclose to users that the management team suspected that the Indian government had succeeded in installing agents on the company payroll. According to a Washington Post investigation, the National Security Division of the US Justice Department and the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence have received documentation corroborating Zatko’s assertions.
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