IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said Twitter failed to comply with intermediary guidelines and has “deliberately” chosen the path of non-compliance despite being granted multiple opportunities.

Lashing out at the micro-blogging platform over non-compliance, Prasad said that it is “astounding” that Twitter that portrays itself as the flag bearer of free speech, chooses the path of deliberate defiance when it comes to the Intermediary Guidelines.

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“There are numerous queries arising as to whether Twitter is entitled to safe harbour provision. However, the simple fact of the matter is that Twitter has failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines that came into effect from the 26 May,” Prasad said in a series of posts on homegrown microblogging platform Koo.

The minister also tweeted on the issue.

Prasad asserted that Twitter was given multiple opportunities to comply with the rules, but deliberately chose the path of non-compliance.

The Centre asked all the social media platforms, operational in India, to comply with its new IT rules by May 25, which Twitter apparently failed to do. However, many platforms, including Twitter, failed to comply with the rules, citing COVID-19 restrictions.