On Saturday, Twitter restored former Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s account after locking it for a week.
Gandhi’s account was locked last week for sharing a photo revealing the identity of the family of a nine-year-old Dalit girl, who was allegedly raped, murdered and forcibly cremated in Delhi.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had written to Twitter about the post, following which the microblogging site had deemed it a violation of its rules. Twitter also reportedly locked the accounts of other leaders who had shared the post. Their accounts were also restored on Saturday.
A Twitter spokesperson had told NDTV that Gandhi’s account was not suspended as claimed by the Congress earlier, and that the due process was being followed to restore it. The account is removed from global view once it is suspended, the spokesperson added.
The principal Opposition party has accused Twitter of bias. In a YouTube video statement titled ‘Twitter’s dangerous game’, Gandhi alleged that Twitter was not a neutral and objective platform and was “beholden to the government.”
“It is obvious now that Twitter is actually not a neutral, objective platform,” Gandhi had claimed. “It is a biased platform. It listens to what the government of the day says.”
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said that locking an account was an extreme step and placed curbs on freedom of expression. He added that withholding the tweet shall suffice if a law like the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act is violated.
“The rules can be upheld without such action,” Tharoor added. “This may be a worldwide policy but I urge Twitter to revise it forthwith. Its often selective application makes it worse. A rethink is overdue.”
After Gandhi’s account was unlocked, the Congress tweeted: “Satyameva Jayate [truth alone triumphs].”
The party’s National Spokesperson Shama Mohamed claimed that the mother of the child who was killed had no objection to the photo shared by Gandhi. “The family realises that Rahul ji was only trying to help them, unlike PM Modi who didn’t utter a word of solidarity for them,” she added.
All India Congress Committee Secretary Vamshi Chand Reddy said, “Who can dare stop us from fighting for our rights and our leader Shri Rahul Gandhi who has been relentlessly fighting against the injustice done to our farmers, students and daughters of India.” Reddy added, “We will fight.. India will fight.. AND We will win.”
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