Twitter's tussle with the Indian government has created a tense situation for the microblogging platform in the country. Adding to the troubles, Twitter has courted another controversy, which is likely to draw the wrath of the Indian government. The new IT rules aside, what Twitter has done now is enough to irk every other Indian, who has lashed out in anger to the extent that #TwitterBan started trending on the microblogging platform.
So what happened?
Given past instances of Indian map tampering, especially concerning the J&K and Ladakh regions, the government has been anything but polite in reminding the erring individuals of their misconduct. Now, Twitter has done the same err by displaying a wrong map of the country on its website.
Twitter's careers page showed Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as a separate country and not part of India. This distortion was spotted under the page titled "Tweep Life" by many users, who shared screenshots of the same on Twitter while schooling the microblogging platform of the error. In fact, netizens are demanding strict action against Twitter.
The government is yet to comment on the matter and Twitter hasn't issued a clarification either. However, the gross misrepresentation has been removed from the website as of this writing.
#TwitterBan
As screenshots of the wrong Indian map on Twitter's website were shared on the platform, Indians were furious. Thousands of people have tweeted with the hashtag #TwitterBan as they lashed out at the microblogging platform. In no time, the hashtag was among the top trends in India.
Twitter might be in deep trouble with this oversight, but it is not the first time the platform has shown a wrong map of India. Last year, Twitter showed the geo-location of Leh in "Jammu and Kashmir, People's Republic of China," implying that it is part of the China. The Center took a strong stance against the error and wrote to Twitter CEO expressing its disapproval and said any attempt to disrespect India's "sovereignty and integrity is totally unacceptable."
Note: International Business Times has greyed out the erroneous part of the map, which was previously shown on Twitter's website as it is illegal to show a wrong map of India.
