Saturday, 14 August 2021 | PNS | New Delhi
Blocking account attack on India’s democracy, claims Cong ex-president
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Twitter of being biased and interfering in the country’s political process by blocking his account. The BJP took a jibe on Rahul’s predicament and said now even the “Twitter has shown him the door.”
In a strong attack, Rahul said Twitter was denying his millions of followers the right to an opinion and termed it as an attack on the democratic structure of the country.
The former Congress chief asked whether Indians should allow companies just because they are beholden to the Government of India to define our politics.
“It’s obvious now that Twitter is actually not a neutral, objective platform. It is a biased platform. It’s something that listens to what the Government of the day says,” he charged in a video message posted on social media.
“By shutting down my Twitter they are interfering in our political process. A company is making its business to define our politics. And as a politician I don’t like that,” he said.
“This is an attack on the democratic structure of the country. This is not an attack on Rahul Gandhi. This is not you know simply shutting Rahul Gandhi down. I have 19-20 million followers. You are denying them the right to an opinion. That’s what you are doing,” Rahul Gandhi said in his video message.
He alleged that this is not only patently unfair, but also breaching the idea that Twitter is a neutral platform.
And for the investors this is a very dangerous thing because taking sides in the political contest has repercussions for Twitter, Rahul said.
“Our democracy is under attack. We are not allowed to speak in Parliament. The media is controlled. And I thought there was a ray of light where we could put what we thought on Twitter. But obviously, that’s not the case,” he said.
Twitter had temporarily suspended Rahul Gandhi’s account after he shared pictures of the family of a nine-year-old victim of alleged rape and murder in Delhi, which is against the rules and the law.
Twitter on its part has said that it has followed the due process as Gandhi’s tweet on the family of the victim was against its rules and the law.
Meanwhile, the BJP took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi over Twitter locking his account for violating company policy and Indian laws – by posting photographs that show him with the family of the nine-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly raped and killed in Delhi on August 1.
BJP Lok sabha MP Tejasvi Surya described Gandhi’s posts as “indecent, illegal and inhuman” and said, “Now, Gandhi cannot take umbrage behind the ‘freedom of expression’ argument after he tweeted the picture of a rape and murder victim’s family…”
“The only place he was active was Twitter. Unfortunately, even Twitter has shown him the door,” he said.
