Twitter withholds Caravan, Kisan Ekta Morcha accounts "in response to a legal demand"

After a spate of FIRs against journalists and news portals regarding their coverage of farmers' protests, Twitter accounts, including The Caravan and Kisan Ekta Morcha were "withheld in India in response to a legal demand."

Multiple other accounts have also been withheld including actor Sushant Singh, activist Hansraj Meena, Md Asif Khan.  The account of Shashi Shekhar Vempati, CEO of Prasar Bharati, India's largest public broadcasting service, has also been also withheld.

FIRs against Journalists and Media outlets

Notably, the Delhi Police registered an FIR against 'The Caravan' magazine for allegedly spreading false information that a farmer died in police firing at the ITO intersection on January 26 after the protesting farmers' proposed tractor rally turned violent on Republic Day in the national capital.

 Moreover, a host of FIRs, including Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today, and Siddharth Vardarajan of The Wire have been withheld for allegedly misreporting the death of a farmer on Republic Day. Delhi Police have been condemned for cracking down on press freedom, especially after Mandeep Punia, was arrested on Saturday, 30 January from the Singhu border. 

The accounts have been withheld as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) directed Twitter to block around 250 Tweets/Twitter accounts that were using #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide hashtags and making fake, intimidatory, and provocative tweets. The request was made to MEITY by the Home Ministry to 'prevent any escalation of law and order in the view of the on-going farmer agitation.'