The opposition parties criticized the BJP-led NDA government after former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey claimed that the government had threatened to shut down Twitter's offices and raid the homes of its employees.
Congress on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led NDA government over the remarks of former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and said that the government threatened to shut down Twitter and raid the homes of their employees during farmers' protest.
In a tweet, Congress General Secretary Communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh said, "During the farmers agitation, the cowardly BJP government threatened to shut down Twitter and raid the homes of their employees."
Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Modi government forced Twitter to shut down accounts of farmers and farmer's movement, shut down accounts of journalists critical of government or Twitter and its employees would be raided. This is what Twitter Co Founder and Ex CEO Jack Dorsey admits in a TV interview. Will Modi Government answer?"
Addressing a Press conference here at the party headquatters, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, "The topic of this Press conference is to reveal how murder of democracy is being done in the mother of democracy...When farmers were agitating at the Delhi border for more than a year, braving winter, summer and rain, they were being called 'mawali, Khalistani, Pakistani and terrorists' and platforms like Twitter were being told that if they show farmers, they will be shut down in India and raided..."
She claimed that Twitter founder and former CEO Dorsey has revealed that the Modi government threatened him - if the farmer's movement is shown, then Twitter's office and employees' homes will be raided and Twitter will be banned in India. "When the farmers of the country were fighting for their rights, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was suppressing their voice," she alleged.
Twitter offices raided
"Whoever tried to raise voice were raided. Twitter office was raided on May 24, 2021. In August 2021, Rahul Gandhi's Twitter handle was blocked and his follower growth almost stopped for the next 6 months.
"In February 2022, when Wall Street Journal is about to run the news that Rahul Gandhi's Twitter handle has been blocked, immediately after that this shadow ban was removed and his followers start increasing. So why not say that Twitter did the work of blocking the account at the behest of the Modi government, so that the strongest voice of the opposition could be suppressed," Shrinate, who is the also the chairman of the social media and digital platforms, said.
"Former CEO of Twitter has said that if you show farmers protest, then your office will be raided," she said hitting back at the government. Dubbing the muzzling of voices as fearsome, she said, "These facts are fearsome. Prime Minister Modi fears because his image has been built by spending crores of money."
"Whenever you show them the truth, they will dub it as international conspiracy. And they say that Twitter didn't follow the rule, but they never share the sections. This script has gone old now and the dictator's true face has been exposed," she said.
No need to lie?
She questioned that what is the need of Dorsey to lie? He won't get anything by bringing truth to the fore, she said. She added that what former party chief Rahul Gandhi has been saying to weaken the democracy, is coming true.
She also demanded the government to telltale people that how data was breached, how it happened, how much data was leaked, who was using the data of Cowin.
Kapil Sibal tweets
Senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal expressed his disapproval on Twitter, stating, "Jack Dorsey, Ex-Twitter CEO, said that the BJP government threatened to shut down Twitter-India offices and raid homes of Twitter-India employees. Minister (Rajeev Chandrasekhar) denies it. Some have no reason to lie, while others have every reason to lie."
Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also criticized the BJP government, citing Elon Musk's statement that social media rules are strict in India. Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter, had mentioned that he would choose compliance with the law over having Twitter employees jailed. Chaturvedi shared a news report supporting Musk's claims and urged those dismissing Dorsey's statement as incorrect to reconsider.
In another tweet, Chaturvedi addressed the claims made by the Minister of State for IT, stating, "The MoS IT says, 'Twitter under Dorsey and his team were in repeated and continuous violations of Indian law.' Lol, yeah, the law they broke was allowing hate speech and promoting the BJP's agenda. Compliance was not an issue as long as it supported their agenda. However, as soon as people and the opposition started using the platform to fight back, the government began cracking down. So, please spare us this little sermon."
She added, "By the way, even Elon Musk has spoken on record about the Indian government's multiple requests to take down content or suspend accounts that go against his belief in absolute Freedom of Speech. They comply because it's the Government of India."
What Dorsey Said?
These opposition leaders' comments came in response to Dorsey's statement during an interview. When asked about pressure from foreign governments, Dorsey mentioned that India had made numerous requests related to the farmers' protests and journalists critical of the government.
Dorsey described how the government threatened to shut down Twitter in India, raid employees' homes, and close Twitter offices if they didn't comply. He emphasized that India is a democratic country.
Farmers from several states had been protesting at the Delhi borders for over a year starting in November 2020. Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged the failure to convince the farmers and appealed for an end to their year-long protest. In the winter session of Parliament, the three controversial laws were withdrawn.
(With inputs from IANS)
