When you open Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s Twitter handle, Rahul Gandhi’s image pops up as the profile photograph.
Youth Congress president B.V. Srinivas’s Twitter account too shows Rahul’s name and photograph. Open party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate’s account, and again you see Rahul.
The Congress calls it “lock-tantra”, no relation to loktantra, or democracy.
Rahul’s Twitter account remains locked. Many Congress leaders have changed their profile picture to show solidarity with the former party president. Some have added Rahul’s name to their handles to send out a firm message to the social media giant.
The Congress on Thursday alleged that the accounts of hundreds of its leaders, state units and frontal outfits too had been locked.
The party initially claimed the number could be 5,000 but sources later said it was difficult to count every such locked handle across the country.
Among the prominent accounts that have been locked are the party’s official handle as well as those of Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala; general secretaries K.C. Venugopal, Ajay Maken and Harish Rawat; office-bearers Manickam Tagore, Sushmita Dev, Jitendra Singh, Rajni Patil, Gourav Vallabh, Ripun Bora, Balasaheb Thorat, Pawan Khera and Revanth Reddy; and social media head Rohan Gupta.
The party is using other social media platforms, describing Twitter’s action as an “attack on free speech”.
Rahul’s Twitter account was locked after he tweeted photographs of himself with the parents of a nine-year-old Dalit girl who had died after being allegedly raped in Delhi. According to India’s child rights watchdog, the post violated the laws protecting the identity of alleged victims of sexual assault.
Rahul has posted several messages on Instagram, indicating he isn’t rattled by the Twitter action.
“If showing compassion and empathy is a crime — then I am guilty. If fighting for justice for a rape and murder victim is a crime — then I am guilty. They can lock us out on a platform. But they can’t lock our voice for the sake of the people. The message of compassion, love and justice is universal. 1.3 billion people will not be silenced.”
Priyanka, the Congress general secretary, posted several messages on Twitter, saying: “Is Twitter following its own policy for the suspension of Congress leaders’ accounts or the Modi government’s? Why hadn’t it locked the account of SC commission that had tweeted similar photos before any of our leaders did?”
She added: “By locking Congress leaders’ accounts en masse, Twitter is blatantly colluding with the stifling of democracy by the BJP government in India. While the BJP government in cahoots with Twitter locks down the voices that cry for justice, let’s not forget the real issue.
“The real issue is the brutal rape and forced cremation of a 9-year-old Dalit girl in the heart of India’s national capital. The real issue is the Delhi police disallowing the lodging of an FIR for 15 hours. Narendra Modi, why have you not uttered a single word about this heinous crime against an innocent child?”
Shrinate alleged that Twitter was acting under pressure from the Modi government. She underscored that Twitter’s policy says action won’t be taken if the information is already available elsewhere and the intention is not to cause harm or defame but to help someone.
Srinivas put out several messages showing a post by the BJP’s IT cell head, Amit Malviya, that purportedly reveals the identity of the Hathras rape victim and her mother.
Twitter response
In response to this newspaper’s queries on Twitter locking out more Congress leaders, the micro-blogging site merely repeated its policy statement that it had sent on Wednesday relating to Rahul being locked out.
This newspaper sent the following questions on Thursday to Twitter officials in India: Keya Madhvani Singh, head of communications in Mumbai, and Pallavi Walia, head of policy communications in Delhi.
1a) Under which specific rule of Twitter has Congress leaders’ accounts been locked?
b) Kindly list the specific rule they have violated, as you have not listed any specific rule in response to a query sent by The Telegraph yesterday for the locking of member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi’s account. I am unable to find any specific rule in the “Help Centre” link you have given which prohibits any content shared by Mr Gandhi. Could you please tell me the specific rule under which Mr Gandhi has been locked out of his account for a week now?
2. The owners of the locked accounts have received a message saying that their tweets — challenging Twitter on the locking of Mr Gandhi’s handle — violated rules on posting private information. The said tweets do not contain any photograph. Could you please explain what the private information is that was revealed in their tweets and have led to the locking of their handles?
3. Has Twitter ever restricted multiple accounts of Opposition parties and their leaders simultaneously in other countries, during a session of their respective legislatures or during their participation in public campaigns?
4. Former BJP MP Anju Bala, the National Commission of Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and several other users had also tweeted photos of the same people on August 2, that Mr Gandhi did two days later. Regarding this, could you please clarify on record which specific rule was applied to the Congress leaders that does not apply to Ms Bala, the NCSC and other users who tweeted photos of the parents of a deceased girl?
A Twitter spokesperson replied: “The Twitter Rules are enforced judiciously and impartially for everyone on our 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. We strongly encourage everyone on the service to familiarise themselves with the Twitter Rules and report anything they believe is in violation.”
Additional reporting by Pheroze L. Vincent
