The official Twitter account of the Congress party was blocked by the social media platform. The accounts of certain of its leaders, including Randeep Surjewala, Ajay Maken, SushmitaDev, and Manickam Tagore, were also momentarily blocked for breaching its policy.
The development comes two days after Rahul Gandhi's account was briefly banned after he tweeted a photo of the parents of a nine-year-old Dalit girl who was reportedly raped andkilled on August 1 in a crematorium in southwest Delhi.
Notably, the sharing of pictures of a victim or her family is barred in India.
Twitter’s Response
As per Twitter, “If an account’s profile or media content is not compliant with our policies, we may make it temporarily unavailable and require that the violator edit themedia or information in their profile to come into compliance. We also explain which policy their profile or media content has violated.”
In response to questions about the Congress' and some of its leaders' accounts being blocked, a Twitter spokesperson stated the Twitter Rules are enforced fairly and equitablyto all users.
The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights apparently informed the company about specific content on the platform that purportedly disclosed the identity of an allegedsexual assault victim's (and a minor's) parents, said company.
“We've taken proactive action on several hundred Tweets that contained an image that violates our rules, and we may continue to do so based on our enforcement options. Certaintypes of private information pose higher risks than others, and our goal is to always protect individuals' privacy and safety,” the spokesperson said. Additionally, that the platform strongly encouraged everyoneon the service to become familiar with the Twitter Rules and report anything they believe is in violation.
When a tweet is deemed to be in violation of Twitter Rules and the account holder has not yet erased it, the tweet is hidden behind a notice and the account is locked until the tweetis removed or the appeal is successfully handled.
Congress’ Response
Congress has accused Twitter of having "double standards" as officials from the National Commission for Scheduled Castes shared similar photos with the victims' parentsbut were not punished.
As per the opposition party, Twitter India was operating under the threat of the Narendra Modi government, suffocating the freedom of expression of the party.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter and wrote, “The perception of double standards makes matters worse. When a BJP national spokesman posted a picture of the Hathrasrape victim (violating Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code) @Twitter did not lock his account. SC Commission posted a pic of the victim’s family 2 Aug; no action.”
Rahul Gandhi said he "understood" Twitter's position on automatically blocking accounts that violated the rules or their policy, and that the company could review its policy.
“Action taken against a prominent Opposition leader raises obvious selectivity and bias concerns. I encourage @Twitter to reinstate @RahulGandhi's account, rethink its automaticsuspension policy, and be more sensitive to public outrage. Focus on what happened to the girl, not on the photo!” Mr Tharoor stated.
What next?
As per the Twitter rules, all of the tweets flagged by the platform will either have to be deleted from the party's official account as well as the accounts of the party's leadersor will remain invisible for a long time.
Twitter will also notify these individuals through e-mail about the nature of the violations committed and will request that they delete the tweets or face punishment in accordance withthe platform's policies.
Repeated violations can result in permanent suspension from the platform.