The Centre has ordered microblogging site Twitter to comply with its directives of removing content and account related to farmer genocide hashtags. It also warned the platform that it may face “penal action” for non-compliance of its order, according to sources.

Government sources said that Twitter had unilaterally unblocked accounts and tweets despite specific order for blocking. Twitter is an intermediary and is obliged to obey the directions of the government, sources said. They added that the platform may face penal action for not complying with the Centre’s orders.

The government notice quoted more than half a dozen Supreme Court judgments including those of constitutional benches as to what is public order, and what the rights of authorities are.

IT ministry sources asserted that Twitter cannot assume the role of court and justify non-compliance.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) had recently directed Twitter to block around 250 tweets/Twitter accounts that were making “fake, intimidatory and provocative tweets” using the hashtag #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide without any further substantiation, on January 30.

The blocked accounts included the official handle of the Kisan Ekta Morcha, the one-stop source of information set up by the protesting farmers, several accounts created to propagate the farmers’ version in the face of the “godi (lapdog) media’s biased coverage”, and the account of The Caravan magazine.

Late in the evening, Twitter started restoring some of the accounts.