After Rahul Gandhi, social media platform ‘locks’ party handle and accounts of senior leaders
Twitter appears to be locked in a conflict with the Congress, with senior leaders as well as the main party handle being ‘locked’ as of Thursday morning. The allegation comes mere days after a tweet by Rahul Gandhi was deleted by the social media platform and his account was locked.
Taking to Facebook and Instagram, the Congress shared screengrabs to explain that it’s official Twitter handle had been locked. As the post explained, the handle has been locked for violating Twitter’s rules “against posting private information”.
“The official Twitter account of the Congress party has been locked by Twitter India. Modi ji, just how afraid are you? Reminder: The Congress party fought for our nation’s independence, equipped only with truth, non-violence and the will of the people. We won then, we’ll win again,” the party added in an Instagram post.
“Twitter has disappointed the people of India,” said Congress secretary-communication Vineet Punia in a tweet on Wednesday, contending that the accounts of several top leaders had also been locked.
Alongside Gandhi, he said that that the handles of AICC general secretary and former union minister Ajay Maken, party general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, party MP Manickam Tagore, Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev, Assam in-charge and former Union minister Jitendra Singh Alwar have been locked.
For the unversed, Gandhi had recently met with the parents of a minor girl who had allegedly been raped, murdered and cremated without her parents’ consent in Delhi’s Old Nangal crematorium. And while many have been calling for speedy justice for the victim, it did not go down well with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) when Gandhi shared a photo from the interaction. The NCPCR had contended that by revealing the faces of the victim’s father and mother, he was also revealing the identity of the girl.
With the NCPCR asking the Delhi Police and the microblogging site to take action, the post was soon taken down for ‘violating the Twitter rules’ and his account was temporarily locked. Congress leaders however allege that the decision was taken under pressure from the Central government.
The list is not limited to Congress leaders. According to Mumbai Congress Working President Charan Singh Sapra, the party’s regional handle was was blocked on Wednesday for purportedly violating its rules. According to him, the Committee will be writing a mail to the social media company to raise objections.
