Twitter restores Rahul Gandhi's account, a week after locking it

Twitter accounts of other Congress leaders who shared the same pictures have also been restored, said Rohan Gupta, the chairman of Congress' social media department.

Twitter on Saturday said it has restored access to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's account, a week after the social media platform temporarily locked it. According to Twitter, the account was locked after the Congress leader ‘violated' its rules by posting pictures of the family of a nine-year-old victim of alleged rape and murder in Delhi.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi  (File Photo)

However, even though the account has been restored, the tweet in question was withheld in India, Twitter said. “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),” a company spokesperson explained, adding that the withholding actions are limited to the specific jurisdiction of the country where the content is determined to be unlawful but remains available elsewhere.

Twitter accounts of other Congress leaders, who shared the same photographs, have also been restored, said Rohan Gupta, the head of Congress' social media department. He called it a “win for the people of India”.

According to a Twitter spokesperson, the accounts were restored as the company received formal consent letters from the individuals depicted in the photos that were shared.

“As part of the appeal process, Rahul Gandhi has submitted a copy of the formal consent and authorisation letter to use the referenced image via our India grievance channel,” the spokesperson for Twitter said. “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.”

The development comes a day after Rahul Gandhi made a video statement from his official YouTube channel, titled “Twitter's Dangerous Game”. Accusing Twitter of being a “biased platform”, he said that the social media network is interfering in India's political process. “I have some 19 to 20 million followers, you are denying them the right to an opinion,” Gandhi had said. “It is not only patently unfair but also breaching the idea that Twitter is a neutral platform.”

Twitter temporarily locked several Congress leaders out of their accounts a week ago for sharing a photograph of the family of the nine-year-old rape victim in Delhi. Accounts of Randeep Singh Surjewala, Ajay Maken, Sushmita Dev, and Manickam Tagore were among those temporarily locked, Congress functionaries aware of the matter said.

Twitter, however, insists that the accounts of the Congress leaders were locked because the image was posted in violation of its rules, which are enforced “judicially and impartially”.

Speaking on the matter, a Twitter spokesperson told Hindustan Times that “certain types of private information carry higher risks than others”. It was the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), it said, which alerted the company about the specific content on the platform allegedly revealing the identity of the alleged sexual assault victim and her parents. The company added the matter was reviewed in line with Twitter rules as well as the concerns expressed as per Indian law.