Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday criticised Twitter for locking his handle as well as the party’s account. He claimed that the microblogging site was biased and only listened to the government.
Gandhi’s account was locked last week for sharing a photo revealing the identity of the family of a nine-year-old Dalit girl, was allegedly raped, murdered and forcibly cremated in Delhi.
On Thursday, the Congress said its official handle and the accounts of more than 5,000 party leaders and workers had also been locked for violating Twitter’s rules against posting private information.
In a YouTube video released on Friday, Gandhi said Twitter was “interfering in our political process” by locking the accounts.
“A company is making its business to define our politics, and as a politician, I don’t like that,” the Congress leader added. “This is an attack on the democratic structure of our country. This is not simply shutting Rahul Gandhi down. I have 19 million to 20 million followers. You are denying them the right to an opinion.”
Gandhi added that since Opposition leaders were not allowed to speak in Parliament and the media was controlled by the government, Twitter was a platform where they could share their views. “But obviously, that’s not the case,” he said.
The Congress leader added: “Now, Twitter is not a neutral and objective platform. It is a biased platform. It listens to what the government of the day says.”
According to Twitter, an account is locked or limited if it violates the microblogging platform’s rules or appears to be compromised.
Gandhi said taking political sides will have repercussions for Twitter. “This is not only patently unfair,” Gandhi said. “They are breaching the idea that Twitter is a neutral platform. And for the investors, this is a very dangerous thing.”
Gandhi added: “Are we going to allow companies, just because they are beholden to the government of India, to define our politics for us? Or are we going to define our politics on our own?”
The Congress has also criticised the Centre for the developments. “[Narendra] Modi ji, just how afraid are you?” the party had said in a social media post on Thursday. “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.”
Several Congress-linked accounts have changed their profile pictures to Gandhi’s to protest Twitter’s move. These include the official handles of Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, India Youth Congress President Srinivas BV and several state Congress units.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party criticised Gandhi for complaining about his locked account.
BJP youth wing chief Tejasvi Surya said that Gandhi tweeting the photo of the nine-year-old girl’s family was “indecent, illegal and inhuman”, PTI reported. “The only place he [Gandhi] was active was on Twitter,” Surya said. “Unfortunately, even Twitter has shown him the door.”
BJP General Secretary Tarun Chugh said: “Disney prince Rahul Gandhi should not have disclosed the the victim’s identity for his petty politics. He should understand this is real world not his Disney world.”
All the accounts, including Congress’ official handle, that are reportedly 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.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!