The move by Twitter to block accounts of several Congress leaders, including former party chief Rahul Gandhi, has provided the principal opposition party with an opportunity to emphasise upon its narrative that the Narendra Modi government has been trying to suppress voices of criticism, and allowed it to project Gandhi as the target of the ruling dispensation's alleged vindictiveness. While Twitter has clarified that the action taken against the accounts of Gandhi and others was as per its guidelines and impartial in nature, the real target of the Congress' criticism is the government as it has claimed that the microblogging site acted under pressure from the Modi regime.
The development ties well with the Congress criticism that the government did not allow the opposition parties to voice their concerns during the recently concluded monsoon session of Parliament and the same modus operandi is being used in other spheres, including in the online space, and the ruling dispensation has been trying to pressurise the social media sites to black out dissenting notes.
Gandhi turned to his YouTube channel on Friday to attack Twitter for being “biased” and said the notion that the microblogging site was a neutral platform had been dispelled. “By shutting down my Twitter (account) they are interfering in our political process. A company is making its business to define politics,” he said.
More significantly, he pointed at the government's alleged manipulation of the social media site, saying, “It's obvious now that Twitter is actually not a neutral, objective platform. It is a biased platform. It's something that listens to what the government of the day says.”
He spelt out the larger issue of alleged suppression of dissent, saying, “Our democracy is under attack. We are not allowed to speak in Parliament. The media is controlled. And I thought there was a ray of light where we could put what we thought on Twitter. But obviously, that's not the case.”
The hectic politicking over the development by the Congress has seen the party underline the idea that the Modi regime has been targeting Gandhi because it sees him as a threat. There has been a rash of party leaders and workers either changing their Twitter account name to 'Rahul Gandhi' or posting his picture as their profile. The party claims that the move smacks of vindictiveness as Gandhi, by visiting the parents of the Dalit girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in the national capital, had succeeded in exposing the Centre's apathy towards the family and the community at large.
The Twitter accounts were blocked since Gandhi and others had allegedly shared a photograph where the faces of the parents of the girl were visible, thereby violating sections of the Juvenile Justice Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Both the laws bar disclosure of the identity of the victim.
It is to be noted that only a couple of months ago, the Congress had accused the Centre of trying to intimidate Twitter when Delhi Police had raided the office of the social media giant. It had claimed that the raid was conducted because Twitter had classified tweets by BJP leaders pertaining to a purported COVID toolkit of the Congress as 'manipulated media'.
The latest development provides the Congress with a chance to claim that the alleged attempts of the government to intimidate Twitter have been successful.
