Highlights:
- Govt asks Twitter to remove 1178 accounts
- The government alleges these accounts spread misinformation around ongoing farmers’ protests
- Twitter is yet to take action on the complaint from the government
The US based microblogging website and platform Twitter has been asked to take down around 1200 accounts by the Indian Government over alleged spread of misinformation surrounding the ongoing farmers’ protests.
The government has alleged that as many as 1178 Twitter handles have Pakistani and Khalistani users as per sources cited in the reports from News Agency ANI with the latest list being sent to Twitter on the 4th of February.
As of now, Twitter has not acted upon the latest complaints from the Government of India.
ANI Tweeted, “Government tells Twitter to remove 1178 Pakistani-Khalistani accounts spreading misinformation and provocative content around farmers’ protests. Twitter yet to completely comply with orders: Sources”.
Government tells Twitter to remove 1178 Pakistani-Khalistani accounts spreading misinformation and provocative content around farmers' protests. Twitter yet to completely comply with orders: Sources pic.twitter.com/YGZLnjxbv3
— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2021
On the 31st of January, the IT Ministry sent a list of 257 Twitter handles and tweets to be blocked for the same reasons.
Also Read: Farmers Protest: Rakesh Tikait Says “Chakka Jam” To Be Pan-India Except Delhi
Twitter blocked these accounts for a few hours before unilaterally unblocking them.
The move from the govt comes amidst the “toolkit” controversy which has surrounded the farmer protest. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, last week tweeted a “toolkit” which she later deleted.
She had also extended support to protest by farmer unions on the borders of Delhi against the new farm laws.
S Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister of India, on Saturday, said that there is a reason why the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reacted to the remarks of some celebrities concerning protest by farmer unions and noted that they spoke: “on matters on which they obviously didn’t know very much”.
The External Affairs Minister said that the “toolkit” case, which is currently being investigated by the Police, has revealed a lot.
He said, “I think it has revealed a lot. We have to wait and see what comes out. You can see there was a reason why the foreign ministry reacted to the statements which some celebrities gave out on matters on which they obviously didn’t know very much”.
On Friday, the Delhi Police wrote a formal letter to Google seeking the registration details along with the activity log of the account via which the “toolkit” related to the ongoing farmers’ protests was created and uploaded on the social media platform.
The Police has also registered an FIR (First Information Report) against an unnamed person in connection with the creators of the said “toolkit”.
