Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) former director M. Nageswara Rao has complained to Elon Musk that his account has been “shadow-banned” on the microblogging site X, formerly known as Twitter.
Addressing Musk directly on the X, Rao, a 1986-batch IPS officer, Rao complained about the BJP’s information-technology cell.
“You are an advocate of free speech, and you have often said that X will not restrict free speech. In India Modi’s BJP operated what is called “BJP IT Cell” which has a huge army of people and bots that literally dictates the nature of discourse on SM (social media),” wrote Rao, who was known for being on the right side of the BJP for a large part of his career as an IPS officer from the Odisha cadre.
“And if any account or post criticises Modi or his party BJP or his government, it is mass reported leading to X’s algorithm imposing shadow ban on that account and preventing reach,” Rao wrote.
He implied that though Muks owns X, In India “it is Modi who gets to decide how it operates”.
Rao said through the X AI app Grok he had come to know about a “subtle ban on his account.”
“You need to fix it if your stated objective of free speech is to be realised,” Rao wrote.
Once considered a favourite of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rao has for the past several months been critical of the government.
Rao was handpicked by Modi to be the interim chief of the CBI in October 2018, while its then head Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana were openly feuding. Rao remained as the CBI director till February 2019.
Rao is known for espousing the cause of “Hindu Renaissance”. As director-general of fire services, he had five years ago tweeted: ““Story of Project Abrahamisation of Hindu Civilization 1. Deny Hindus their knowledge 2. Vilify Hinduism as collection of superstitions 3. Abrahamise Education 4. Abrahamise Media & Entertainment 5. Shame Hindus about their identity 6. Bereft of glue of Hinduism Hindu society dies.”
Over the years Rao has been reported to be close to think tanks linked to the RSS and was frequently seen at events held by right-wing organisations like the India Foundation and the Vivekananda International Foundation.
How and why Rao turned against Modi is unclear.
An anonymous X user asked Rao on X: “Have you stopped acting as a stooge for Sanghis and BJP supporters, or have you just stopped receiving Dalai, which is why you’re now opposing them?”