New IT minister says Twitter will have to abide by Indian laws

All those who live and work in India will have to abide by the rules of the country, newly sworn-in Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said on Thursday on Twitter's standoff with the central government over new IT rules.

Vaishnav was talking to reporters after meeting Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary (Organisation) B L Santhosh at the party office in New Delhi.

On a question that Twitter was not adhering to IT rules, he said whosoever lives and works in India will have to abide by the rules of the country.

Vaishnav, the MP from Odisha, on Wednesday took oath as the Cabinet Minister and was given the charge of Railways along with the Information and Technology Ministry.

He said was thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving him the responsibility.

He said his focus will be on improving the life of the last man standing in the queue.

In past, Vaishnav, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, had raised the issue of cyber bullying of Karnataka-based Rashmi Samant's resignation from the position of Oxford Student Union President in the United Kingdom and described it as a serious case of racism.

United States-based company Twitter has been in the eye of a storm over its alleged failure to comply with the new IT rules in India, which mandates, among other requirements, the appointment of three key personnel -- chief compliance officer, nodal officer and grievance officer by social media platforms with over 50 lakh users.

All the three personnel have to be residents in India. While the rules came into effect on May 26, Twitter is yet to adhere to the social media guidelines, despite repeated reminders from the government.