Can the Government take action against cartoonists without complaints and inquiry?

Can the Indian Government ask social media platforms to take down posts without specifying the posts, without conducting an inquiry and without giving an opportunity to the other side to be heard? The questions have been raised after Twitter sent an email to cartoonist Manjul on June 4. It informed the cartoonist that it had received a ‘legal request’ from the Government to take down his tweets. He was advised that while no action had been taken by Twitter on the request, he was free to consult lawyers and seek legal redressal.

The government sought action against the cartoonist instead of a specific tweet and claimed it (sic) “violates the law(s) of India”, curiously without mentioning what the allegedly offending tweet was all about.

The social media platform suggested that the cartoonist could seek legal counsel and challenge the government’s request in court, contact civil society organisations for finding a resolution or voluntarily delete the content.

“Jai ho Modi ji ki sarkaar ki [Hail the Modi government],” Manjul wrote on Twitter, while sharing the email, wondering which tweet of his had offended the government.

As on Friday, June 11, the handle @Manjultoons was still active though it is still not clear which particular tweet or tweets were singled out by the Government. Prateek Sinha, founder of fact checking website AltNews, in a series of tweets questioned the legality of government’s action.

“Indian Police is sending requests to Twitter to take down content posted by likes of @ManjulToons claiming that it violates Indian law. We don’t know which police department is sending these requests, nor do we know what law their tweets violate - no transparency.”

“But since when did police become the judiciary in India? How does police get to decide what content violates Indian law and what doesn’t?” Sinha went on to ask, “Are there any police complaints/FIR corresponding to these tweets? Was there any investigation launched to determine if the content violates Indian law?” While no answers are forthcoming, what is clear is that the Union Government is using the police at its disposal to intimidate people who are critical of the government’s policies and performance and seek to make them accountable. Manjul, whose cartoons have appeared in publications like The Economic Times and India Today, occasionally also draws cartoons and calls upon viewers to pay for them.

“Once in a while I draw a toon which is sponsored by my readers. I put it out here & you pay for it. This time, if u feel like supporting this toon, pls donate to people who you know, who are out there helping Covid patients,” he had twice tweeted this month.