According to the Times of India, members of Delhi Police's elite Special Cell went to two of Twitter's offices Monday to serve a notice related to a "manipulated media" label that Twitter had recently applied to a tweet from a spokesperson for India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Earlier in the day, Delhi police had reportedly demanded an explanation from Twitter as to why it applied the label to the spokesperson's tweet. Delhi police sources told the Times of India the visits were part of a "routine process" to "ascertain who the right person was to serve the notice."
Twitter has a policy of labeling tweets as manipulated if they "deceptively promote synthetic or manipulated media that are likely to cause harm." Twitter may also remove tweets in those cases.
Twitter declined Protocol's request for comment, but the news struck a chord with other tech executives, including Brian Fishman, who leads Facebook's work combatting dangerous individuals and organizations. "I understand that many folks want [the U.S. government] putting more pressure on tech for a variety of reasons. Fair enough. But there are a host of issues where [the U.S. government] needs to support tech companies to advance U.S. interests and values," Fishman tweeted. "[The U.S. government] needs to walk and chew gum at the same time on this."