Twitter has moved court against
Taking a look at the IT Act, the lawsuit, and the faceoff between Twitter and the government, Twitter initiated legal action against some of the government missives ordering it to remove certain content.
Twitter has taken legal action against some of the government missives ordering it to take down certain content posted on the microblogging site, according to sources familiar with the matter.
On Tuesday, the social media company moved the Karnataka High Court against the Ministry’s content-blocking orders proceeded under Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. In a letter last month, the IT Ministry warned Twitter that it would lose its safe harbor protection under the intermediary regulations if it failed to comply with its orders by July 4.
69 (A) of the IT Act, 2000 permits the Centre to issue blocking orders to social media intermediaries “in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the defense of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order.”
According to the rules governing these blocking orders, any government request is sent to a review committee, which issues the directions. It is typically confidential to issue a blocking order under Section 69 (A) of the IT Act.
Twitter claims in its filing that many of the blocking orders are procedurally and substantively flawed under Section 69 (A) of the Act. Users are not given prior notice before their content is taken down, for instance. The company alleged that MeitY failed to demonstrate how some of the content it wants to take down falls under Section 69 (A).
A number of Twitter accounts and posts have been flagged by the Ministry based on the Ministry’s “overbroad and arbitrary” or “disproportionate” criteria.
According to Twitter, some of the content flagged by the Ministry may pertain to official accounts of political parties, so blocking them may violate free speech rights.
In its lawsuit against the Ministry, Twitter claims it has been given “one last opportunity” to comply with MeitY’s blocking orders.
As part of its missive issued late last month, the Ministry warned that it would lose its immunity as an intermediary if the microblogging platform did not remove content flagged by it. According to the Ministry, Twitter had until July 4 to comply with its blocking orders.
Twitter had been accused of “failing on numerous occasions” to comply with MeitY’s directions to block certain pieces of content and accounts under Section 69 (A) of the IT Act, according to the notice addressed to Twitter’s chief compliance officer.
In response to a government request from 2021, Twitter submitted a list of over 80 blocked accounts and tweets on June 26. the request from the government was to block multiple accounts, and some tweets from the international advocacy group Freedom House, journalists, politicians, and supporters of the farmers’ protest, a senior official at MeitY said that the company was yet to comply with many takedown notices.
In an apparent reference to the lawsuit, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, wrote on Twitter, “In India, all Internet intermediaries/platforms, including foreign ones, are entitled to court review.”. Nevertheless, all intermediaries/platforms operating here are obligated to comply with our laws and regulations.”
Ashwini Vaishnav, Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, spoke to media persons at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India in Gandhinagar.
There is no doubt that social media is a powerful medium. We live in a world where it has a great deal of influence. Around the world, there is a valid question regarding its accountability. “Countries and societies all over the world are taking steps to make social media accounts,” he said.
According to Twitter’s latest global transparency report, India accounted for the fourth highest number of legal takedown requests between January and June 2021. This particular reporting timeframe saw Twitter receive 43,387 legal demands for the removal of content from 196,878 accounts, with India accounting for 11 percent of the global demand.
In the same period, Twitter blocked 1,060 accounts and said that the spike was due to Twitter’s compliance with an Indian blocking order issued under India’s Information Technology Act.
What are Nairobi flies?
Known as Kenyan flies or dragon bugs, Nairobi flies are small, beetle-like insects that belong to two species, Paederus Eximius and Paederus sabaeus.
Approximately 100 students from an East Sikkim engineering college have reported skin infections after coming in contact with Nairobi flies.
Nairobi flies, an insect native to East Africa, are growing rapidly on campus at the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) in Majhitar, officials reported. In search of breeding grounds and food supplies, the flies can overwhelm new areas, officials said.
It was reported by the college administration that infected students had been given medication and were recovering. Recently, one student underwent surgery on his hand after becoming infected.
Nairobi flies, also known as Kenyan flies or dragon bugs, are small, beetle-like insects that belong to two species, Paederus Eximius and Paederus sabaeus. As has been observed in Sikkim in the past few weeks, they are orange and black in color cited by bright light.
They usually attack pests that consume crops and are beneficial to humans – but they can sometimes cause harm to humans directly. According to health officials, these flies do not bite, but if disturbed, they release a powerful acidic substance that causes burns.
When pederin comes in contact with the skin, it can cause irritation, resulting in lesions, unusual marks, or coloring. In a week or two, the skin begins to heal, but if the victim scratches the irritated area, secondary infections may occur.
Kenya and other parts of eastern Africa have experienced major outbreaks. According to the Associated Press, unusually heavy rains brought a large number of insects to the region in 1998.
The disease has also spread to India, Japan, Israel, and Paraguay outside of Africa.
It is possible to prevent mosquito bites by sleeping under mosquito nets. Fly bites should be gently brushed off and not disturbed or touched on, reducing the chances of pederin being released.
Soap and water should be applied to the area where the flies are sitting. Unwashed hands should not touch any other part of the body, especially the eyes if they are squelched and leave toxic fluids on the skin.
UK cinema bans teens in suits.
Young people have been flocking to cinema halls wearing suits and referring to themselves as ‘Gentleminions’ since the film was released last week.
In response to unruly behavior sparked by a bizarre new trend on TikTok, several UK cinemas have banned young people from wearing formal attire during screenings of the recently-released animated film ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru.’
A large number of young people have been flocking to movie theaters wearing suits and calling themselves Gentleminions since the film was released last week.
With the trend’s popularity growing, more teens began filming themselves, cheering loudly and imitating the characters while dressed in formal attire at film screenings.
Although these videos have garnered millions of views on social media, cinemas have not been as enthusiastic. Other venues have refunded disgruntled audience members after canceling further screenings of the film.
The trend started last week when the latest ‘Despicable Me’ spinoff, featuring animated supervillain Gru and his army of yellow henchmen, was released worldwide. On the social media site TikTok, #gentleminion quickly became a trending hashtag.
To join the trend, teenage boys around the world are dressing up in suits to attend screenings of the movie which is aimed at younger audiences. The students filmed themselves clapping loudly, cheering, and copying some of the actions of the film’s villain, Felonious Gru, including his signature steepled fingers hand gesture.
Some even snacked on bananas during the movie, referencing the Minions’ favorite food. A trend that has since been endorsed by Universal Pictures, the film’s distributor. “To everyone showing up in suits to Minions: we see you, and we love you,” the movie studio tweeted.
Cinema-goers have complained about disruptive behavior during screenings. There has been growing trouble in the UK that the TikTok trend is ruining the viewing experience for younger children.
A number of cinemas have since banned teens in suits from watching the film.
Cinema chain The Regal posted a statement on Twitter saying: “We are currently not admitting unaccompanied children wearing suits to ‘Minions: The Rise Of Gru.'”. This is due to the issues we encountered over the last two days and their associated behavior.”
According to The Guardian, another independent cinema in Wadebridge, Cornwall, will not be allowing unaccompanied children dressed in suits to watch the movie. The Odeon cinema chain has also restricted access to some of its theatres.
The centerpiece of India Australia collaboration
This ecosystem fuels the transition toward clean energy and the digital economy in countries around the world, thanks to these critical resources.
During their meeting on Monday, India and Australia decided to strengthen their partnership in the field of critical minerals supply chains and projects.
In the course of his six-day visit to Australia, Union Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi met with his counterpart, Resources, and Northern Australia Minister Madeleine King, after which Australia committed $5.8 million to the three-year India-Australia Critical Minerals Investment Partnership.
A bilateral partnership will help advance critical minerals projects in Australia while diversifying global supply chains; King said that Australia has the resources to help India meet the growing demand for critical minerals to help India’s space and defense industries.
The critical minerals are essential components of modern-day technologies and are at risk of supply chain disruptions. Today, these minerals are used in a variety of applications, including mobile phones, computers, batteries, electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines. Different countries create their own lists based on their needs and strategic considerations.
These lists mainly include graphite, lithium, and cobalt, which are used in EV batteries; rare piles of earth used in magnets; and silicon, which is used in computer chips and solar panels. Additionally, these minerals are used in the manufacturing of fighter jets, drones, radio sets, and other critical equipment in the aerospace, communications, and defense industries.
The ecosystem that fuels clean energy and the digital economy is dependent on these critical resources as countries around the world accelerate their transition. The economy and strategic autonomy of a country overly dependent on others for critical minerals can be severely compromised if there is a supply shock.
As a result of rare availability, a growing demand, and a complicated processing value chain, supply risks exist. It is common for hostile regimes or politically unstable regions to disrupt the complex supply chain.
According to a statement issued by the US government in February, the world’s demand for these critical minerals will rise by 400-600 percent over the next several decades. For minerals such as lithium and graphite used in electric vehicle batteries, the demand could rise as much as 4,000 percent.
Due to the rapid shift from fossil fuel-intensive to mineral-intensive energy systems, they are of utmost importance.
A report by the USGS on Mineral Commodity Summaries from 2019 indicates that China is the world’s largest producer of 16 critical minerals.
The International Energy Agency reports that in 2019, China is responsible for 70% and 60% of global cobalt and rare earth mineral production, respectively. For processing operations, where China has a strong presence across the board, the concentration level is even higher. Nickel is refined at around 35% in China, lithium, and cobalt at 50-70%, and rare earth elements at nearly 90%.
In addition, it owns cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 70% of this mineral comes from.
Chinese exports of rare piles of earth to Japan were suspended for two months in 2010 due to a territorial dispute. As a result of the decision, the market prices of RREs increased by between 60% and 350%, according to the Brookings Institution.
After China resumed shipments, prices returned to normal only one year later.
During a review of critical minerals supply chains in 2021, the US found that an overreliance on foreign sources and adversarial nations posed national and economic security risks. As a result of the supply chain assessment, the company has shifted its focus to expanding the production, processing, and recycling of critical minerals and materials at home.
To ensure a consistent supply of critical and strategic minerals to the Indian domestic market, the government has established KABIL, a joint venture between three public-sector companies. As Coal and Minister Pralhad Joshi announced the formation of KABIL in 2019, he said: “KABIL will ensure mineral security for the nation but also help achieve import substitution.”
Critical Minerals Facilitation Office (CMFO) and KABIL recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at ensuring reliable supplies of critical minerals to India from Australia.
A new Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre was launched by the UK on Monday to study the future demand for and supply of these minerals. A critical mineral strategy will also be released later this year, it said.
Earlier this year, the US, Canada, and Australia launched an interactive map of critical mineral deposits to help governments identify ways to diversify their minerals supply.
