'That is why they banned Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account…', Congress leader KC Venugopal declared Tuesday amid outrage over ex-Twitter boss Jack Dorsey's comment - about 'pressure' to shut down accounts and delete tweets critical of the Narendra Modi government during the farmers protest of 2020 and 2021. Declaring Dorsey's allegations 'alarming and shocking for all', he said, "Entire government machinery is pressurising Twitter CEO to suppress and shut the opposition's voice."
"That is why they banned Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account. Where is the freedom of expression, freedom of media?... Not only in Parliament, but we will also raise this issue throughout the country," Venugopal said.
The Congress leader's comments come after Dorsey - who quit as Twitter boss last year, after Elon Musk's sensational takeover - claimed the company received 'many requests' from India to block accounts covering the farmers' protests. "India is one of the countries which had many requests around farmers protests, around particular journalists which were critical of the government, and it manifested in ways such as 'we will shut Twitter down in India'… 'we would raid the homes of your employees', which they did…" he told YouTube-based podcast Breaking Point.
Venugopal's party colleague Supriya Shrinate has slammed the government too, tweeting, "When farmers were agitating at Delhi border for more than a year… braving winter, summer, and rain… they were called 'Mawali, Khalistani, Pakistani and terrorists' and platforms like Twitter were told that if they show farmers, they would be shut down in India and raided."
READ | 'No reason for Jack Dorsey to lie but every reason for...', says ex-IT minister Kapil Sibal
Government's response
{{/usCountry}}Venugopal's party colleague Supriya Shrinate has slammed the government too, tweeting, "When farmers were agitating at Delhi border for more than a year… braving winter, summer, and rain… they were called 'Mawali, Khalistani, Pakistani and terrorists' and platforms like Twitter were told that if they show farmers, they would be shut down in India and raided."
READ | 'No reason for Jack Dorsey to lie but every reason for...', says ex-IT minister Kapil Sibal
Government's response
{{/usCountry}}The government has predictably dismissed Dorsey's claims; junior union technology minister called it an 'outright lie' and said Twitter 'had a problem accepting sovereignty of Indian law'.
"Between 2020-2022, Twitter was violating Indian law multiple times. It started complying only in 2022. During that period nobody went to jail and nobody was raided. Dorsey, knowing Twitter did not comply… and didn’t face any consequence, is today lying and making up stories…"
Rahul Gandhi's account banned on Twitter
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account had been 'temporarily suspended' in 2021 after he posted pictures of the parents of a minor girl who was raped and murdered in Delhi. "We have followed the necessary due diligence process to review the appeal in order to protect the safety and privacy of the affected individuals. We have updated our enforcement action based on the consent provided by the people depicted in the image," a Twitter spokesperson said at the time.
(With ANI inputs)