Congress on Thursday accused the government of ‘scuttling free speech’ and said the party’s Twitter account and that of several of its leaders were temporarily locked for sharing a photo of the family of a nine-year-old rape victim.
Randeep Singh Surjewala, Ajay Maken, Sushmita Dev and Manickam Tagore’s accounts were among those temporarily banned, according to Congress officials familiar with the situation.
On Instagram, the party’s official account shared a screenshot of a Twitter notification alerting the party that its account had been locked. ‘The official Twitter account of the Congress party has been locked by Twitter India. 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,’ the caption of the post read.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSdbdpwDHy1/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The head of the Congress social media department, Rohan Gupta, has accused Twitter of operating under government pressure, claiming that the company had banned 5,000 accounts belonging to the party’s officials and employees across India. ‘They need to understand we can’t be pressurised by Twitter or the government.’
Twitter stated that it applies its rules fairly and consistently and that it had taken proactive action against several hundred tweets that contained the picture in violation of its guidelines.
‘(Twitter)…may continue to do so in line with our range of enforcement options. Certain types of private information carry higher risks than others and our aim is always to protect individuals’ privacy and safety. We strongly encourage everyone on the service to familiarise themselves with the Twitter rules and report anything they believe is in violation, a Twitter spokesperson said.
Twitter said that the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) notified the firm about particular information on the site that purportedly exposed the identity of a sexual assault victim and her parents. It went on to say that the case was looked into in accordance with Twitter’s policies as well as the concerns raised under Indian law.
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Congress has been at odds with Twitter since Saturday when Rahul Gandhi’s account was momentarily banned. It had previously said that the account had been suspended before clarifying that it had been temporarily disabled.
The account was never suspended, as per Twitter, since doing so would render it unreachable throughout the world.
The NCPCR had earlier requested the Delhi Police and Twitter to take action against Gandhi over a photo he uploaded after visiting the family of a nine-year-old girl who died as a result of an alleged sexual assault. It claimed that publishing the photo was illegal.
Gandhi met the girl’s family and assured his support last week. ‘Parents’ tears are saying only one thing — their daughter, the daughter of this country, deserves justice. And I am with them on this path to justice,’ Gandhi tweeted in Hindi and posted the photo of his meeting with the victim’s family. Twitter took down the post.
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