Social Media platform Twitter has been accused of being pro-Left several times in the past. Many handles which are pro-India have been either suspended or banned by Twitter. But now, even accounts which take up legal issues in the interest of the country are being targeted by Twitter.
Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF), a Legal Activism Group which works towards safeguarding Indias security is the latest target of the Left-leaning Twitter. LPRF’s handle @lawinforce has been receiving mails from Twitter’s Legal department indicating violation of ‘law(s) of India’. A legal expert itself, LRPF is very well aware of the legal boundaries of India within which its contents are framed. It is ironical that a foreign entity is harassing a Indian Legal Forum in the name of transparency in terms of laws of India!
Taking the issue seriously, prominent Legal Group, Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) has requested the Ministry of Information Technology to intervene in the matter and take legal action against Twitter. LRO says that by sending such mails to LRPF, Twitter intends to stifle the forum’s voice on Social Media by misquoting the law(s) of India.
LRPF has responded saying that Twitter might restrict its activity updates from reaching its followers through tweets, but the platform cannot restrict their activities.
Not the first time!
Such accusations of stifling pro-India and pro-Hindu handles by Twitter is not a recent phenomenon. Twitter in the past has specifically suspended and banned hundreds of accounts which have spoken for India and the Hindu cause without resorting to abuse or slander.
In February 2019, Twitter was summoned by a parliamentary panel on information technology to examine the issue of “safeguarding citizens rights on social/online news media platforms”. During the same time, members of Youth for Social Democracy protested outside Twitter India’s office, alleging that the Social Media platform had acquired an anti-right wing attitude and resorted to blocking their accounts and restricting the reach of their tweets.
Though Twitter had rejected these charges and said that it adheres to its ‘global set of rules’, hobnobbing of its CEO Jack Dorsey with anti-India and anti-Hindu group during his visit to India seemed to give the game away. He was accused of holding up a poster which indicated his implicit endorsement of hate speech towards Brahmins. The group he met was well known for its anti-Hindu and anti-India stance of all issues.
Given its blatant bias, many users are switching to newer and less centrally controlled platforms like Gab and Mastodon.
