After Twitter blocked the official accounts of the Congress party and its leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, the microblogging company, on Thursday, August 12, said that these handles posted an image in violation of its rules and the action was to protect individuals' privacy and safety. The accounts concerned had posted pictures of the family of the nine-year-old Dalit girl who was raped and murdered last week in Delhi. The Congress party had accused Twitter of acting against Rahul Gandhi's account under pressure from the government.
When contacted, a Twitter spokesperson on Thursday said the company's rules are enforced judiciously and impartially for everyone in its service. "We have taken proactive action on several hundred tweets that posted an image that violated our rules and may continue to do so in line with our range of enforcement options. Certain types of private information carry higher risks than others, and our aim is always to protect individuals' privacy and safety," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that Twitter strongly encourages everyone on the service to familiarise themselves with the Twitter Rules and report anything they believe is in violation.
According to Twitter, if a tweet was found to be in violation of its rules and isn't deleted by the account holder, the microblogging platform hides it behind a notice and the account remains locked until the said tweet is removed or the appeal is successfully processed.
The US-based company said it was alerted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) about specific content on the platform that allegedly revealed the identity of an alleged sexual assault victim's (and a minor's) parents. The said content was reviewed against Twitter's rules and policies as well as the concerns expressed as a matter of Indian law.
Apart from Rahul Gandhi, the other senior leaders whose accounts were locked include the party’s media head, Randeep Surjewala, AICC general secretary and former minister Ajay Maken, party's whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, Assam in-charge and former Union minister Jitendra Singh and Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev.
Responding to the issue, Congress leader and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, said, “I understand Twitter’s position that it has no choice but block accounts that violate Indian law and Twitter policy. While the law is what it is, the policy can be reviewed. Automatically locking accounts is an extreme step that stifles the freedom of expression of Indian citizens.”
Action taken against a prominent Opposition leader raises obvious concerns of selectivity&bias. I urge @Twitter to restore @RahulGandhi’s account, review the policy of automatic suspensions & show more sensitivity to public concerns. Focus on what happened to the girl, not a pic!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 12, 2021