Sunday, 15 August 2021 | PNS | New Delhi
Twitter on Saturday restored the account of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, alongside those of the party and its other leaders, amid ongoing friction between the social media platform and the party over its members sharing pictures of the family of a rape victim.
The micro-blogging site said it restored Rahul’s account after the Congress leader submitted a consent letter from the family of a victim of alleged rape and murder in the city for use of images but continues to withhold the tweets that contain the images saying they violate India’s laws.
“Satyameva Jayate (truth alone triumphs),” the Congress tweeted in its first reaction after its official handle was unlocked. Rahul’s and Congress’ accounts were temporarily suspended last week after he tweeted pictures of the family of the nine-year-old victim of alleged rape and murder in Delhi.
Twitter deemed it violation of its rules.
While the accounts have been unlocked, the contentious pictures and tweets are not visible. “As part of the appeal process, @RahulGandhi (the official Twitter handle of Rahul Gandhi) has submitted a copy of the formal consent/authorisation letter to use the referenced image via our India Grievance Channel,” Twitter spokesperson said.
The law provides that identity of a juvenile victim of sexual assault cannot be disclosed. Tweeting pictures of the family violated that and so the accounts were locked. During the period the accounts were locked, the owner could access the account but not allowed to send out new tweets. This was to allow them to delete the contentious tweets.
But neither Rahul nor Congress and its leaders did that. Instead they submitted a consent letter from the family of the alleged rape victim for use of their images. “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 Tweet is now withheld in India and the account access has been restored,” Twitter spokesperson said.
After the restoration of its account, the Congress and some party leaders ran the hashtag “Speak Up against Twitter’s hypocrisy”. “The people of India demand accountability from Twitter. We demand that your restore the locked accounts that were simply demanding justice for a rape victim and stop interfering in our politics because of your fear of the Modi government,” a Congress said a statement shared by his colleagues on Twitter.
“Our demands from Twitter: Stop suppressing the voice of Indians under the pressure of the Modi Government. Don’t be afraid of the BJP and restore all accounts that demanded justice,” said a statement tweeted by many Congress leaders.
