Peasant movement: Twitter rejects Centre's request to block some accounts

New Delhi, Dt

The controversy between the Indian government and Twitter over compliance with the new IT laws does not go unnoticed. The government issued a "final" warning to Twitter on Saturday to comply with the new law. However, there have been some major controversies between the Indian government and Twitter recently. Political circles are debating whether these controversies have played a significant role behind the government's current tough stance.

Farmers staged a tractor parade on Republic Day during a farmers' movement protesting the implementation of a new agricultural law in India. Violence erupted at the historic Red Fort that day and rioting elements hoisted religious flags in place of the tricolor. The central government has since ordered Twitter to block 1,100 accounts and remove several controversial hashtags. The government claimed that most of the accounts belonged to Khalistan supporters, who were spreading propaganda in the peasant movement and sharing false information on social media.

Twitter blocked some accounts and removed controversial hashtags at the behest of the government, but several accounts were later reactivated. Twitter said most of those accounts are from people associated with the media, journalists and social workers. "We will continue to advocate for freedom of expression and will continue to do so under Indian law," Twitter said in a statement. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad expressed displeasure over the statement on Twitter.

The central government was getting a lot of criticism on social media when people were facing shortage of oxygen and beds in the hospital during the second wave of the Corona epidemic. Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and BJP general secretary BL Santosh shared two four-page screenshots of the document on Twitter, claiming that it was a Congress toolkit. One of the documents was associated with Corona and the other with Central Vista.

He alleged that the Congress was defaming the Modi government on social media through its people. Several BJP leaders shared Patra's tweet with the hashtag CongressToolkit Exposed. It also included several Union ministers.

Congress leaders complained on Twitter that BJP leaders were sharing fake documents. Acting on it, Twitter tagged the character's post as 'manipulated media'. The BJP also got annoyed with it and asked to remove the tag. Amid the controversy, the conflict with the central government on May 9 took to Twitter on May 9 to break the silence on the new digital rules, raising concerns about a "potential threat to freedom of expression." The central government expressed outrage at Twitter's statement, saying it was trying to discredit the world's largest democracy.