Twitter accounts of Congress, Surjewala, Venugopal, Maken locked

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 12

The Congress on Thursday said the party’s official handle and several accounts of its leaders and volunteers had been locked by Twitter and alleged that the micro blogging site was acting under pressure of the government.

Former party chief Rahul Gandhi’s account already stands suspended.

The Congress alleged that accounts of seniors leaders general secretaries Randeep Surjewala, KC Venugopal, Ajay Maken, AICC Assam in charge Jitendra Singh, Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev, MP and Lok Sabha whip Manickam Tagore had been suspended among those of many others.

The party also said close to 5,000 accounts of party workers had been suspended for sharing pictures of family of the minor victim of alleged rape and murder in Delhi.

The Twitter action followed a notice from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to act against Gandhi’s handle for violating privacy laws for minor victims. Juvenile justice act prohibits revelation of pictures of minor victims of crime and their families.

Twitter says Gandhi, Cong a/cs blocked for violating rules                 

Meanwhile, Twitter on Thursday reasoned blocking of several accounts of Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, for posting an image that it said violated its rules and the action was to protect individuals’ privacy and safety.

When contacted, a Twitter spokesperson on Thursday said the company’s rules are enforced judiciously and impartially for everyone in its service.

“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,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that Twitter strongly encourages everyone on the service to familiarise themselves with the Twitter Rules and report anything they believe is in violation.

According to Twitter, if a tweet was found to be in violation of its rules and isn’t deleted by the account holder, the microblogging platform hides it behind a notice and the account remains locked until the said tweet is removed or the appeal is successfully processed.