Mumbai: Twitter is facing a backlash over freedom of speech after it suspended the accounts of 250 users at the request of the Indian government, which alleged they had sent “provocative tweets”.
A legal order had been made by India’s ministry of electronics and IT, which said the accounts had committed “incitement to genocide” by using the hashtag “ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide”.
On January 26, protesting farmers and the police had clashed in New Delhi over proposed agriculture bills that farmers argued would decimate their profits. One farmer died in the violence.
A man uses a smartphone in Mumbai, India.Credit:Bloomberg
Among the accounts suspended were that of Caravan India, an independent investigative news site; Shashi Shekhar Vempati, who is chief executive of the state-run broadcaster Prasar Bharti; and political commentator Sanjukta Basu.
Indian activists demanded Twitter restore the accounts, arguing that the social media platform was curtailing freedom of speech.
“Journalists, activists charged with sedition for reporting on the farmers’ protest, their Twitter accounts suspended, the world cannot afford to ignore this dictatorship,” tweeted activist Rana Ayyub.
On Monday, after 12 hours of public pressure, Twitter restored the suspended accounts. It said the suspensions were routine.
“If we receive a properly scoped request from an authorised entity, it might be necessary to withhold access to certain content in a particular country from time to time, a spokesman said.”
The social media platform said its investigation found the accounts had not broken its free speech guidelines.
Activists claim there is an ongoing crackdown on freedom of speech in India.
Nine journalists and a senior Congress Party politician, Shashi Tharoor, face criminal charges for tweeting that the protester who died on Jan 26 was shot. The Indian police deny the allegations and say he died after his tractor overturned.
Telegraph, London
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