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‘Twitter Files’ back in focus after Jack Dorsey's explosive claims. What are these?
The former CEO, who resigned in Nov 2021, has alleged ‘pressure’ from the Indian government during the year-long farmers' protest in country.
A war of words has expectedly broken out between the ruling BJP and the Congress-led opposition over former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's allegations of ‘pressure from India’ during the year-long farmers' agitation in the country. The controversy has, however, once again put the spotlight back on ‘Twitter Files.’
Several BJP leaders, central ministers and party supporters referred to Twitter Files, as they hit back at opposition parties who attacked the Narendra Modi government over Dorsey's claims.
What are ‘Twitter Files’?
These were released by billionaire Elon Musk, who bought Twitter in October last year. First released on December 2, these are internal documents that reveal how the social media giant handled high-profile content moderation decisions, including banning then outgoing US President Donald Trump from the platform, after his supporters, on January 6, 2021, attacked the US Capitol. These decisions were taken during Dorsey's tenure as CEO; the 46-year-old resigned in November that year.
Also Read: Farmer leader Tikait backs Dorsey's claim govt warned it will 'shutdown Twitter'
The documents also showed how the company ‘censored’ Trump's Republicans due to their political views.
How are these documents relevant to India?
In March, Matt Taibbi, one of the journalists who collaborated with Musk for the exercise, disclosed in the seventeenth revelations of the series that Twitter, in 2021, received at least 40,000 accounts from a US think-tank's ‘disinformation lab,’ with the think-tank accusing these handles of ‘engaging in inauthentic behaviour in support of Hindu nationalism.’ The BJP is seen as a Hindu nationalist party.
When Twitter checked these 40,000 names and found them to be ‘real people,’ it also found that they were mostly US nationals: people who had been never been to India, and were not Hindu. However, that the handles were reported was seen by many as ‘censorship.’
Also Read: 'No reason for Jack Dorsey to lie but every reason for...', says ex-IT minister Kapil Sibal
Rajeev Chandrashekar, the MoS for Electronics and Technology, who is leading the government's defence on the current issue, had described the revelations as a sign that ‘not everything was right’ at Twitter.
Why is BJP raking up ‘Twitter Files’?
The party apparently wants to portray Dorsey as a person who takes ‘unethical’ decisions like censorship and, therefore, as someone who must not be believed, at least not at face value.
