Congress says Twitter has locked its account; company defends decision

Twitter says Congress handle and those of many others flouted its rules on protecting identity of sexual assault victim.

Almost a week after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account was locked by the microblogging platform, the account of his political party was also locked on Thursday. Twitter said action was taken for violation of its rules that disallow the identity of a rape victim to be revealed.

Locking the account prevents account owners from tweeting, but the profiles remain visible and accessible to them and their followers. 

“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,” a spokesperson for Twitter said.

According to Twitter, it was alerted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) about specific content on the platform that allegedly revealed the identity of an alleged sexual assault victim’s (and a minor) parents.  

After reviewing it against Twitter rules and policies, as well as the concerns expressed as a matter of Indian law, several hundred accounts were actioned upon, the platform said. 

There is an ongoing case in the Delhi High Court filed by social activist Makarand Suresh Mhadlekar through advocates Gautam Jha, Pankaj Kumar, and Sweta Jha, which sought directions on NCPCR to take appropriate action against the Congress leader for tweeting pictures that allegedly disclosed sensitive details and published photographs of the family of a nine-year old allegedly gangraped and murdered in Delhi Cantonment.

Gandhi's account was locked on August 7. The case hearing was held on Wednesday and is listed for September 27.

On Thursday, the Congress posted on Instagram a screenshot of a tweet posted on August 8, which was mentioned as the cause for violating Twitter rules. 

Tagging Twitter India, the Congress had said in the tweet: “@TwitterIndia lock our accounts, we challenge you. Nothing will stop us from fighting for justice and exposing the truth.”

TWEET FOR TAT

* Rahul Gandhi's account locked on August 7

* INC account locked on August 12

* Twitter says accounts violated Twitter rules

* NCPCR also asked for action on these tweets for violating POCSO Act

* 'Rahul Gandhi', 'RaGa', '#TwitterBJPseDarGaya', among top Twitter trends on Thursday 

Twitter has said the tweet violated its rules for posting private information. “You may not publish or post other people’s private information without their express authorisation and permission,” it said.

This is not the first time Twitter has been embroiled in controversy over action taken on political accounts.

The Twitter account of former information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was temporarily blocked in June for copyright violation in an old tweet.

'RaGa', '#TwitterBJPseDarGaya', 'Rahul Gandhi' were among the top trends on Twitter in India on Thursday.

Many Congress leaders, including General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and supporters changed their Twitter profile pictures to that of Rahul Gandhi's, and tweeted with some of these hashtags. 

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