'India Has Strict Social Media Laws': Elon Musk Says He Was Unaware Of Twitter Removing Posts On BBC's PM Modi Documentary

In January, the BBC released a two-part series on the early political life of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Musk said he'd rather have his employees follow norms rather than go to jail.

Source : Twitter/ANI

On Wednesday morning, Elon Musk participated in a Twitter Spaces conversation with BBC journalist James Clayton. During the conversation, Clayton asked the Twitter CEO about the microblogging platform's removal of posts related to a BBC documentary on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was later banned in India. Musk clarified that he was not aware of this particular case, but commented on India's strict social media laws.

Musk stated that he would rather comply with a country's laws than have any of his people go to jail. He acknowledged that India has very strict social media laws and expressed his preference for complying with these laws over facing imprisonment. 

"I'm not aware about this particular case... India has very strict social media laws," said Musk. "If the choice is between complying with laws or going to jail, I'd rather comply with laws than have any of my people go to jail."

In January, the BBC released a two-part series on the early political life of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The documentary received widespread criticism in India and was subsequently banned. After the ban, many links to the film were removed by Twitter and YouTube in response to a request from the Indian government.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs criticised the documentary, calling it a "propaganda piece" lacking objectivity and exhibiting a colonial attitude. The removal of links to the film by Twitter and YouTube was in response to the request made by the Indian government.

Musk, in the surprise interview, talked about the challenges he faced after taking over the microblogging platform in a hostile $44-billion bid in October last year.

The billionaire entrepreneur spoke about how tough the mass layoffs have been at the company, sleeping at the office, the latest BBC-Twitter label row, who the real CEO of the firm is, if he would sell Twitter for the same amount he acquired it with. This marked Musk’s first major interview with the media ever since taking over Twitter.