Government issues ultimatum to Twitter to remove hate pages

While Twitter finally acceded to the demand to shut down six fake accounts claiming to represent the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the government warned the micro-blogging site of a temporary ban if it did not cooperate fully.

The government on Wednesday night set a 12-hour deadline for Twitter to remove hate pages, failing which it would impose a temporary ban. The government can direct internet service providers to block Twitter until it complies with its demands.

''If Twitter fails to respond to our request, we will take appropriate action,'' said R K Singh, the home secretary. ''We have asked the information technology ministry to serve them a notice.''

The IT ministry had asked Twitter to remove 28 pages featuring inflammatory content and fictitious reports on the violence in Assam, but the US-based company did not respond to the notice.

However, Twitter did respond to the complaint from the PMO, informing it about the fake accounts. The site said it would shut down these fake accounts. ''India is important to us and we would like to have clearer communication in these matters in future,'' the American company told the PMO.

Government officials have noted that while other internet and social media sites, including Google and Facebook cooperated with the authorities, Twitter has stubbornly refused to heed to the directives.