Twitter chief says no choice but to abide by local government laws

NEW YORK – Twitter owner Elon Musk said Wednesday that the social media platform has no choice but to abide by local government rules.

After meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York, Musk said that if Twitter does not comply with local laws, access to the platform will be blocked.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey recently said that India had threatened to shut down the social media platform in the past.

India wanted the social media platform to restrict accounts that criticized the way Prime Minister Modi’s government handled the 2021 farmers’ protests.

Musk said the best way to proceed is to abide by local laws in a given country.

“If we don’t obey local government laws, then we will get shut down. So, the best we can do is to work close to the laws in any given country. If not, we will be blocked or arrested,” he added.  

He said Twitter will do its best to ensure freedom of expression, but you cannot just take America and apply it to the whole world.

Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, said Modi is pushing the electric car maker to make significant investments in India.

Asked if Tesla would enter the Indian market, he said he planned to visit India next year.

“I am confident that Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible. I would like to thank the prime minister for his support and hopefully we will be able to announce something in the not-so-distant future,” Musk said.

Later, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Modi had invited Musk to explore opportunities in India for investment in the electric mobility and commercial space sectors.

Modi arrived in the U.S. on Tuesday for a state visit at the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden.