The Congress on Tuesday stated the federal government ought to cease “suppressing” social media and journalists after ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey claimed the platform was threatened with shutdown except it complied with orders to limit accounts through the farmers’ protest.
The Centre has, nonetheless, rubbished the costs, saying Dorsey’s Twitter regime had an issue accepting the sovereignty of Indian legislation. Dorsey, who stop as Twitter CEO in 2021, made the sensational allegation in an interview with the YouTube information present Breaking Points on Monday.
The Congress additionally demanded solutions from the Modi authorities over the problem and alleged that there can’t be larger proof of the “weakening of democracy” within the nation by focusing on establishments.
“We demand that the government stops suppressing social media, stops suppressing, coaxing large sections of media into submission,” Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate stated at a press convention right here. “Opposition voices are regularly being suppressed by the government,” she alleged.
Shrinate stated Twitter had banned Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s account after “pressure” from the federal government, and alleged that the “truth” has come out after Dorsey’s claim.
“The prime minister is afraid because crores have been spent to build his image and that gets demolished when such truth comes out,” she stated, and added that Dorsey wouldn’t profit anyway by talking out now.
“There cannot be bigger proof of the weakening of democracy in the country by targeting institutions. This is the truth of this government,” Shrinate claimed.
Taking to Twitter, Congress basic secretary Randeep Surjewala stated, “The Modi Government forced Twitter to shut down accounts of Farmers and Farmer’s movement, shut down accounts of journalists critical of Government, or Twitter and its employees would be raided.”
“This is what Twitter Co Founder and Ex CEO Jack Dorsey admits in a TV interview. Will Modi Government answer,” he requested. Surjewala additionally shared a clip from the interview wherein Dorsey levelled the allegation.
Congress chief Jairam Ramesh stated, “During the farmers agitation the cowardly BJP government threatened to shut down Twitter & raid the homes of their employees.”
Shrinate additionally stated that Twitter has turn out to be a platform for expressing public opinion, and claimed that Dorsey has made it very clear that through the farmers’ agitation, the Modi authorities “pressurised” the corporate to cease such content material or face raids.
“Twitter was raided and the idea was to suppress the agitation and send out a message,” she claimed. Shrinate claimed that not too long ago a Union minister threatened a journalist in Amethi who then misplaced his job inside hours.
“This has to stop. Intimidation of media, journalists and social media platforms has to immediately stop,” she stated.
In the interview, Dorsey claimed that the Indian authorities “pressured” the corporate with threats of a shutdown and raids on staff if it didn’t adjust to requests to take down posts and limit accounts that have been important of the federal government over the protest by farmers in opposition to new legal guidelines in 2020 and 2021.
“It manifested in ways such as: ‘We will shut Twitter down in India’, which is a very large market for us; ‘we will raid the homes of your employees’, which they did; And this is India, a democratic country,” he stated.
Rubbishing the claims, Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated, “@twitter under Dorsey and his team were in repeated and continuous violations of India law. As a matter of fact they were in non-compliance with law repeatedly from 2020 to 2022 and it was only June 2022 when they finally complied”.
