Congress leaders', party's official Twitter accounts locked; party slams Modi
The Indian National Congress on Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Twitter accounts of the party and several of its leaders were locked. Sharing a screenshot of its Twitter account on Facebook and Instagram that read, "Your account has been locked," the Congress party said, "Modi ji, just how afraid are you?" The party said it won't cower and will fight back.
The tech giant's move came after Congress leaders "violated Twitter rules." "You may not publish or post other people's private information without their express authorization and permission," Twitter's notification in the screenshot shared by Congress read. Earlier, Congress leaders had shared photographs of the family of a nine-year-old Dalit rape-murder victim. Similar posts by leaders of Modi's BJP did not invite action, it said.
The Congress party said, "We were not scared when our leaders were put in jails, then why'd we be afraid when our Twitter accounts have now been locked? We are the Congress...we will fight." "If it is a crime to raise our voice to seek justice for the rape victim, then we will do this crime a hundred times," the party added.
Twitter has suspended the accounts of AICC General-Secretary Ajay Maken, party's whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, Assam in-charge Jitendra Singh, Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev, Assam Congress leader and MP Ripun Bora, among others. Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's account was also temporarily suspended.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor—who heads the Parliamentary IT Panel—said that Twitter is acting in compliance with the law. "I understand Twitter's position that it has no choice but block accounts that violate Indian law and Twitter policy," Tharoor said. However, he quickly added, "Automatically locking accounts is an extreme step that stifles the freedom of expression of Indian citizens."
