The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 has provisions that impose heavy penalties on companies for non-compliance.
Twitter has joined the likes of Google-parent Alphabet and Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) in flagging such concerns.
In its annual 10-K filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week, Twitter said the usage of feature phones and constraints in internet access in countries like India could limit its monetisation prospects. The filing is part of a report on financial performance required from all publicly traded companies in the United States.
“We are subject to legislation in Germany that may impose significant fines for failure to comply with certain content removal and disclosure obligations. Other countries, including Brazil, Turkey, Singapore, India, Australia, and the United Kingdom, have implemented or are considering similar legislation imposing penalties for failure to remove certain types of content,” according to the SEC filing on February16.
Twitter’s statement comes close on the heels of Meta Platforms flagging concerns about India’s upcoming privacy legislation, which seeks local storage and in-house processing of data, in its SEC filing on February 2.
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Alphabet Inc also said in its regulatory filings earlier this month that similar issues were plaguing its operations, without explicitly naming any country.
Twitter did not respond to ET’s email till press time Sunday.
Twitter has raised issues of compliance with respect to privacy, data protection, data localization and cybersecurity, without naming India.
It said the nature of its business exposes it to claims related to defamation, intellectual property rights, rights of publicity and privacy, illegal content, misinformation, content regulation and personal injury torts.
Owing to this, the company said it may face lawsuits or incur liability as a result of content published or made available through its products and services. The company could incur significant costs investigating and defending these claims, it said.
The company added that the usage of feature phones in both India and neighbouring Pakistan was playing spoilsport in monetizing its products and services.
“Operating internationally subjects us to new risks and may increase risks that we currently face, including risks associated with greater difficulty in monetizing our products and services, including costs to adapt our products and services in light of the manner in which people access Twitter in such jurisdictions, such as the use of feature phones in certain emerging markets such as India and Pakistan, and challenges related to different levels of internet access or mobile device adoption in different jurisdictions,” the company said.
The social media company also said it was being kept on its toes due to increased competition from regional websites and apps.
While Twitter did not explicitly mention India in this context, regional language micro-blogging site Koo is pitching itself as a strong alternative to the US company. The app has been downloaded over 10 million times and has even started expanding internationally. India has lately seen the emergence of several local social media and short video apps. For instance, Twitter-backed regional language social media platform ShareChat has a sizable user base with over 100 million downloads.
“Our international operations are subject to increased challenges and risks (like) increased competition from largely regional websites, mobile applications and services that provide real-time communications and have strong positions in particular countries, which have expanded and may continue to expand their geographic footprint,” Twitter said.
Experts said fines would come into play only when someone is convicted.
“The IT Act is silent on any kind of fines,” Supreme Court advocate Pavan Duggal told ET. “The fine is only applicable once you are charged with a criminal offence, and you get convicted.”
He added that Twitter has not been convicted in any matter in India so far but is being prosecuted in about four FIRs where it has already moved court.
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