The Congress party on Thursday morning said that its official Twitter handle has been locked. The party, on its Instagram handle, shared a screenshot of a message from Twitter saying that the account was locked for “violating our rules against posting private information”.
Pranav Jha, the secretary of the party’s communications department, said the Twitter accounts of more than 5,000 Congress leaders and workers have also been blocked, according to ANI. Besides, party handles from several cities, states and Union Territories have been blocked too, according to NDTV.
The Congress, meanwhile, attacked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the development.
“Modi ji, just how afraid are you?” Congress said in its Instagram post. “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.”
This came days after Twitter locked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s account for sharing a photo that revealed the identity of the family of a nine-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly raped, murdered and forcibly cremated in Delhi. Gandhi’s tweet was also removed.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned Twitter’s suspension policy. “Is Twitter following its own policy for the suspension of Congress leaders’ accounts or Modi government’s?” she tweeted. “Why hadn’t it locked account of SC commission that had tweeted similar photos before any of our leaders did?”
Jha claimed that the accounts of Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, former Union ministers Ajay Maken and Jitendra Singh Alwar, women’s body chief Sushmita Dev and chief whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore were locked by the social media platform.
“Doesn’t Modi Ji understand that we Congressians have a legacy of fighting even from behind the locks of kaala paani [Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar]?” Jha tweeted. “He thinks the virtual locks of Twitter will deter us from fighting for India??”
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is also the head of the parliamentary committee on information technology, said he understood Twitter’s position, but automatically locking accounts was “an extreme step that stifles the freedom of expression of Indian citizens”.
“The perception of double standards makes matters worse,” he tweeted. “When a BJP national spokesman posted a picture of the Hathras rape victim (violating Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code) Twitter did not lock his account.”
Tharoor was apparently referring to Bharatiya Janata Party Information Technology cell head Amit Malviya tweeting a video revealing the identity of the complainant in October last year.
Tharoor added that Twitter’s action against Gandhi raised concerns about bias and selectivity. “I urge Twitter to restore Rahul Gandhi’s account, review the policy of automatic suspensions and show more sensitivity to public concerns,” he said. “Focus on what happened to the girl, not a pic.”
A spokesperson for Twitter, however, said that the company enforces its rules judiciously and impartially, PTI reported.
“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,” the spokesperson said. “Certain types of private information carry higher risks than others, and our aim is always to protect individuals’ privacy and safety.”
Meanwhile, Rohan Gupta, the head of Congress’s social media department, accused Twitter of acting under the Centre’s pressure. “It [Twitter] did not remove the same pictures shared by the Twitter accounts of National Commission for Scheduled Castes for a few days,” he told PTI.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien also criticised the social media giant’s action against Congress’ handles. “What’s going on @Twitter @TwitterIndia @jack?” he asked. “What’s going on? We strongly condemn the blocking of the accounts of @INCIndia and senior leaders of the Congress party.”
According to Twitter, an account is locked if it violates Twitter rules or appears to be compromised. “We may ask you to complete certain actions before we start the countdown on your limited state,” the company says. “These actions may include verifying your email address, adding a phone number to your account, or deleting Tweets that are in violation of our rules.”
All the accounts, including Congress’ official handle, that are being claimed to be locked, are visible on the social media platform. However, the last tweets on all these handles were from Wednesday. The last tweet on Gandhi’s account is from August 6, a day before his account was locked.
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