Twitter withholds Yogi Adityanath’s tweet that Muslim League is a 'virus'

At least 34 other tweets with communal content have reportedly been removed or have been withheld by Twitter.
Twitter withholds Yogi Adityanath’s tweet that Muslim League is a 'virus'
Twitter withholds Yogi Adityanath’s tweet that Muslim League is a 'virus'

Continuing its crackdown on violations of the Model Code of Conduct ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission of India on Wednesday directed Twitter to take down the tweets by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath which have been deemed communal in nature by the poll panel. At least 34 tweets with communal content have reportedly been removed or have been withheld by Twitter.

The Election Commission of India has taken notice controversial tweets of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yogi Adityanath where he dubbed Kerala-based Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) party as a 'virus'. A message in place of the tweet reads: “This Tweet from @myogiadityanath has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand.”

Along with Yogi’s tweets, tweets by Union Minister Giriraj Singh, MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa, actor Koena Mitra and Army veteran Surendra Poonia have also been taken down.  Twitter also seems to have suspended the accounts of some unverified handles.

TNM has reached out to Twitter India for a statement. This copy will be updated as and when they respond.

The IUML had approached the ECI on Saturday and filed a complaint with the authorities against Yogi Adityanath’s tweets where he had tweeted: “The entire country had joined hands with Mangal Pandey against the English during the freedom struggle of 1857. Then the virus of the Muslim League came and spread, partitioning the country." The Election Commission, which was verifying the case, had asked Twitter to pull down the tweets and banned Yogi Adityanath from campaigning for 72 hours, holding that he had violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

“The Commission observes that being the CM of a state, Sh Yogi Adityanath has an added responsibility to not only uphold the basic tenets, including secularism of the Constitution but also to display the same in his public appearances/speeches as well,” the Election Commission had said in its order on Monday, where it had banned the BJP leader from campaigning from 6 am on April 16, 2019.

At the time, the EC had also censured former BSP Chief Mayawati for 48 hours for her statement asking members of the Muslim community to vote for the candidate of the SP-BSP coalition in Uttar Pradesh.

 

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