The Aarti Tikoo case and Indian edtech’s new lobby

Why read this story?

Editor's note: Something odd happened this week. The Delhi High Court issued a notice, seeking response from the central government and Twitter in the case of a blocked account.  Aarti Tikoo, a journalist and founder of news site The New Indian, had filed a plea with the court, stating that on 14 December her cousin participated in a chat on Twitter Spaces (the company’s audio room feature) where he was allegedly called an “Indian agent” and threatened by extremists. Following the chat, Aarti posted a tweet. Twitter locked her account the same day, saying her post violated its guidelines against hate speech. In her plea to the court, Aarti requested the government of India to safeguard her right to freedom of expression.  This case is the first of its kind in India because, as much as it is about a blocked account, it is also about the moderation of live audio chatrooms—a feature that blew up in India with Clubhouse in May last year. By November, Twitter launched Spaces, something it has slowly rolled out in India. There have been plenty of …