Twitter Locks the Accounts of Congress Party and thousands of Party Workers

Earlier this year, the platform had ‘withheld’ the accounts that were active in the Farmers Struggle Against the Three Farm Laws.

congress

Twitter, a microblogging platform in recent years under the Modi regime has been at the receiving end of rightful flak for blocking and withholding access to the accounts media portals, journalists, opposition political leaders, and activists critical of the ruling party and its actions.

In a similar incident, on Thursday the Congress Party took to its Instagram account to share that the party’s official account on Twitter has been locked by the social media platform.

“Modi ji, just how afraid are you? Reminder: The Congress party fought for our nation’s independence, equipped only with truth, non-violence & the will of the people. We won then, we’ll win again,” Party’s post sharing a screenshot of its Twitter account read.

Rohan Gupta, the head of Congress social media department said that the party’s official Twitter account and around 5,000 accounts of its top leaders and workers have been blocked by Twitter.

Earlier, on August 8, Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi’s account was blocked. after he shared pictures of the parents of a nine-year old Dalit girl who was raped, murdered, and forcibly cremated by a Hindu priest and his associates in the national capital.

The site on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that it has deleted a post by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that had a photograph of the parents of a nine-year-old Dalit girl, who was allegedly raped and killed in Delhi earlier in August.

According to the platform, it was alerted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights about specific content on the platform that allegedly revealed the identity of an alleged sexual assault victim.

Also read: Facebook & BJP Ties: Censorship of dissent and promotion of hate speech

However, Gupta has alleged that Twitter was acting against Congress leaders under pressure from the government.

“Twitter is clearly acting under government’s pressure, as it did not remove the same pictures shared by the Twitter accounts of National Commission for Scheduled Castes for a few days,” he said.

Visible from the screenshot shared by the party, the online platform explained its action by saying that “you may not publish or post other people’s private information without their express authorisation and permission.”

Journalists and other netizens took it to social media to express their discontent over Twitter India’s decision to block the account of an opposition party and its leaders. Congress has opposed the arbitrary actions by Twitter calling it a ‘digital emergency.’

Calling out the hypocrisy of the microblogging platform, users wrote that the platform cites community guidelines to clamp down dissent against the BJP government but allows a free hand to those spreading hate speech and sharing violent content.

Earlier this year, the platform had ‘withheld’ the accounts that were active in the Farmers Struggle Against the Three Farm Laws, including Kisan Ekta Morcha, The Caravan, CPI(M) leader Md Salim, Sushant Singh, Sanjukta Basu, Hansraj Meena.

Read More: Kisan Ekta Morcha, The Caravan, CPI(M) Leader Md Salim’s Twitter Account Withheld Among Others

Previously social media platforms Facebook have been questioned for stifling voices that are progressive and critical of the BJP government and the actions of other right-wing Hindu organisations.

The role of Facebook and Whatsapp has also been critiqued in spreading fake news and hate speech that has led to multiple instances of violence.

Read More: Facebook Should Be Co-Accused in Delhi Violence: Legislative Committee

Donate

Independent journalism can’t be independent without your support, contribute by clicking below.

March 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here