Twitter takes down Rahul Gandhi’s tweet that revealed the identity of the relatives of a rape and murder victim in Delhi
Our Bureau
New Delhi
In a major step on Thursday, after blocking the official accounts of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other senior party leaders, Twitter also blocked the official handle of the Indian National Congress (INC) for violating rules of the microblogging site.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday slammed Twitter for suspending the accounts of several members including party secretary-general KC Venugopal, AICC’s Ajay Maken, Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore among others and accused the social media platform of “blatantly colluding with the stifling of democracy by the BJP government in India”.
On August 6, Twitter had taken down Rahul Gandhi’s tweet that revealed the identity of the relatives of a rape and murder victim in Delhi. The victim was a minor. Congress leaders had been alleging that it has been done under pressure from the Central government.
The general secretary of the All-India Congress Committee in charge of Uttar Pradesh further accused the social media platform of following the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government for the suspension of Congress leaders’ accounts. In a tweet today, the Congress leader said, “Is Twitter following its own policy for the suspension of Congress leaders’ accounts or the Modi government’s? Why hadn’t it locked the account of SC commission that had tweeted similar photos before any of our leaders did?”
The party in an official statement said: “Twitter India has locked the official handle of the main opposition party–Congress–an unprecedented attack on the rising voice of the people. @RahulGandhi @INCIndia. Several accounts including Randeep Singh Surjewala have also been blocked by Twitter.”
Reacting to the development, Social Media Head of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Rohan Gupta said that nothing will deter the party from raising the voice of the people. Gupta alleged that Twitter while acting under the government’s pressure, has blocked accounts of more than 5,000 party leaders and workers across India.
Raising questions on microblogging site’s action, Gupta said, “Twitter has blocked its account for violation of rules, Twitter acting under government pressure. Twitter is acting under the government’s pressure. If it is a violation of Twitter policy, then why the photo of the (Victim’s) family was there on the Scheduled Caste (SC) commission handle from August 2 to August 5.”
“On August 4, Rahul Gandhi meets the family members of the victims and raises their voice, and Twitter immediately locks his account and deletes his tweet. These are the double standards. If it is a policy violation, then the SC commission tweet should have been deleted. Why it was there up to August 5?” he asked.
Clarifying its position regarding blocking accounts of Congress party and several of its leaders, Twitter on Thursday said its rules are enforced judiciously and impartially for everyone on its service. In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said the microblogging site it will continue to take proactive action if its rules are violated. “The Twitter Rules are enforced judiciously and impartially for everyone on our service. We have taken proactive action on several hundred Tweets that posted an image that violated our Rules and 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 familiarize themselves with the Twitter Rules and report anything they believe is in violation,” the spokesperson said.
Citing reason behind blocking accounts the company said it was alerted by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) about specific content on the platform that allegedly revealed the identity of an alleged sexual assault victim’s (and a minor’s) parents. “We reviewed it against Twitter Rules and policies, as well as the concerns expressed as a matter of the Indian law,” stated the spokesperson.
“As explained in our Help Center, if a Tweet was found to be in violation of the Twitter Rules, and has yet to be deleted by the account holder, we hide it behind a notice and the account remains locked until the Tweet is removed or the appeal is successfully processed,” they added.
On Wednesday, Mumbai Regional Congress Committee’s official Twitter handle was also blocked for violating its rules, said Charan Singh Sapra, Committee Working President. The Congress earlier said the Twitter account of party leader Rahul Gandhi has been temporarily suspended and he will stay connected through other social media platforms and continue to raise the voice of people.
