Twitter on Saturday unlocked accounts of Rahul Gandhi and those linked to the Congress days after nearly 5,000 handles associated with the party were temporarily blocked for sharing a photograph of the parents of an alleged rape victim. This came after Gandhi submitted a consent letter to Twitter from the parents, authorising him to use the image.
Gandhi’s Twitter handle was locked after he tweeted their image on August 4. Twitter said Gandhi's tweet that carried the photo will remain withheld in India.
Vipin Yadav, the national coordinator of the Congress' social media department, said almost all the party handles have been unlocked. He added some handles of national coordinators remain locked.
Yadav said Congress on day one gave the consent letter to Twitter, but it was not entertained. "Following this, we started a massive campaign on Twitter against the ban on Congress accounts," he said. He said the public pressure forced Twitter to acknowledge the letter and unlock the accounts.
Minutes after unlocking, the Congress main's handle tweeted “Satyamev Jayate” which means that truth alone triumphs.
A spokesperson for Twitter said as part of the appeal process, Gandhi submitted a copy of the formal consent/authorisation letter to use the referenced image via its India Grievance Channel. "… and based on the written consent provided by the people depicted in the image, our teams initiated the necessary due diligence... the process to review… We have updated our enforcement action based on the consent provided by the people depicted in the image… and the account access has been restored.'
{{/usCountry}}A spokesperson for Twitter said as part of the appeal process, Gandhi submitted a copy of the formal consent/authorisation letter to use the referenced image via its India Grievance Channel. "… and based on the written consent provided by the people depicted in the image, our teams initiated the necessary due diligence... the process to review… We have updated our enforcement action based on the consent provided by the people depicted in the image… and the account access has been restored.'
{{/usCountry}}The spokesperson added the tweet in which Gandhi shared pictures of the family shall be “withheld in India” and will be invisible to users in the country.
“As explained in our Country Withheld Policy, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in accordance with valid legal provisions under the Indian law(s). The withholding actions are limited to the specific jurisdiction/country where the content is determined to be unlawful and remains available elsewhere,” the spokesperson said.
Gandhi on Friday accused Twitter of being “a biased platform” that “listens to what the government says”. He called the restrictions on his and his party colleagues’ accounts an interference with India’s political process.
The girl's mother told journalists on Friday that they have no objection about Gandhi tweeting their image. She said whatever Gandhi did was in good faith.
Gandhi's Twitter handle was locked after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights filed a complaint citing violation of the law, which prohibits the identification of victims of sexual crimes.