Shares of social networking service Twitter have taken a hit amid the tussle with the Indian; government over the new IT rules. Modi government’s decision to tame the networking site accused of spreading fake news has stemmed from a rally in the NYSE-listed stocks. On June 16, the networking site lost its intermediary status in India, after the government said it gave the app multiple opportunities to comply with the new IT rules. The stock closed at $59.93 on Wednesday, down 0.50% on NYSE. The market cap of the firm fell $0.43 billion to $47.64 against the market cap of $48.07 billion in the previous session.
Decline in Stocks of Twitter:
The stock stood at $59.93 today, a decline of 25.78% after touching a 52-week high of $80.75 on February 26. Since February 26, the firm has lost $13.87 billion or 22.54% in market cap to date. Twitter reveals what’s holding it back from complying with new IT rules. Shares of Twitter closed at $43.48 on November 13 last year when the Indian government sent a notice to Twitter for showing Leh as part of Jammu & Kashmir instead of the Union Territory of Ladakh. Soon after #BanTwitter started trending on social media. Market cap of the firm in that session stood at $34.58 billion. Twitter loses legal indemnity due to non-compliance of new IT rules
Modi government’s clampdown:
However, the stock continued to climb and reached $54.58 on February 3, 2021. The Modi government’s clampdown on Twitter over the posts published on the network began on the same day. Twitter was issued a legal notice for reinstating a number of accounts that supported the farmers’ protests despite the IT Ministry’s directive to block those and warning of consequences “of non-compliance of directions issued under section 69A of the ITAct”. Twitter appoints interim chief compliance officer but yet to share details with Centre. On February 4 this year, the ministry of electronics and information technology sent a fresh directive to Twitter, for removal of over 1,000 accounts flagged by security agencies as those of Khalistan sympathisers or backed by Pakistan amid the ongoing farmer protests.
A list of 1,178 accounts was sent to the networking site. According to reports, Twitter had not responded to that notice with some even suggesting that the government took note of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey liking some pro-farmer tweets made by celebrities. By that day, the Twitter stock had risen to $56.51 on NYSE. Market cap of the firm reached $44.98 billlion. Unperturbed by the adverse developments, the stock went on to hit a 52 week high of $80.75 on February 26, 2021. The stock had rallied 133.17% in last one year. On February 26 last year, the share stood at $34.63.