News Analysis India

Tag: Twitter

  • Twitter removes filmmaker Leena Manimekalai’s ‘Kaali’ poster tweet 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Social media platform Twitter has pulled down filmmaker Leena Manimekalai’s tweet about her documentary “Kaali”, which is currently at the centre of a controversy, in response to “a legal demand”.

    In the said tweet posted on July 2, the Toronto-based director had shared the poster of “Kaali”, which depicted the titular goddess smoking and holding an LGBTQ flag.

    “This Tweet from @LeenaManimekali has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand,” read a message in place of the original post. It is unknown when the tweet was taken down by the microblogging site.

    On Tuesday, the Delhi Police and the Uttar Pradesh Police filed separate FIRs against Manimekalai over the controversial poster.

    Further, the Indian High Commission in Ottawa had urged the Canadian authorities to take down all “provocative material” related to the film after it received complaints from leaders of the Hindu community in Canada about the “disrespectful depiction” of Hindu gods.

    “Kaali” was showcased as part of the ‘Under the Tent’ project at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. Under attack for the poster, Manimekalai had on Monday said she will continue to use her voice fearlessly till she is alive.

    “I have nothing to lose. Till the time I live, I wish to live with a voice that speaks what I believe without fear. If the price for that is my life, it can be given,” she wrote in a tweet in Tamil in response to an article on the controversy. The filmmaker also urged people to watch the documentary to understand the context behind the poster.

  • Twitter document shows government’s requests for blocking tweets of advocacy groups, politicians 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Social network Twitter was asked by the government to block multiple accounts and some tweets from advocacy group Freedom House, journalists, politicians, and supporters of farmers’ protest last year, according to a document filed by the platform on June 26.

    The requests from the government were sent between January 5, 2021, and December 29, 2021, according to the document filed with Lumen database.

    Leading internet companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter file information with Lumen database about weblinks or accounts that they have been asked to block by any entity under applicable laws.

    ALSO READ | Twitter accounts linked to farm movement withheld on Centre’s ‘instructions’: SKM

    However, details about whether the request to block a link or account was fulfilled are not available on the database.

    According to the document filed by Twitter, the social network was asked by the government to block tweets of the international advocacy group Freedom House which conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights including freedom of speech and expression on the internet across the world.

    An e-mail query sent to the Ministry of Electronics and IT did not elicit any reply.

    Twitter complying with Indian government’s directive to withhold journalist @RanaAyyub’s tweet and block columnist @cjwerleman’s account in India are part of an unacceptable new trend of censorship on social media. This must stop! Journalists voices are essential for a democracy https://t.co/jtXvHP6Nq3
    — CPJ Asia (@CPJAsia) June 27, 2022
    According to the document, the government had asked Twitter to block a few tweets from Freedom House which talked about the state of internet freedom in 2020 and noted its sharp decline in India.

    The document showed that the government requested to block tweets belonging to members of the Indian National Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, including MLA Jarnail Singh.

    The government had also requested Twitter to block the account of Kisan Ekta Morcha.

    ALSO READ: Journalist Mohammad Zubair arrested for ‘hurting religious sentiments’

    A random check showed that most of the tweets and Twitter accounts that were requested to be blocked were accessible to users.

    In a statement released on Monday, the umbrella body of farmers’ unions, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), raised strong objections to the requests made by the government for blocking tweets of those who stood in its support.

    “Samyukta Kisan Morcha strongly opposes and condemns the withholding Twitter accounts allied with the farm movement on the instructions of the Union Government. Twitter has withheld about a dozen Twitter accounts in India, including the Twitter handle @kisanektamorcha allied with the Farm Movement, without any warning,” SKM said.

    The international group Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the government’s move to block tweets of journalists– Rana Ayyub and CJ Werleman.

    “Twitter complying with the Indian government’s directive to withhold journalist @RanaAyyub’s tweet and block columnist @cjwerleman’s account in India are part of an unacceptable new trend of censorship on social media. This must stop! Journalists’ voices are essential for a democracy,” CPJ Asia tweeted.

  • BJP tweets Rahul’s video at Nepal club, Cong says he is in Himalayan nation for friend’s wedding

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday tweeted a video of Rahul Gandhi apparently at a nightclub in Nepal, inviting a strong response from the Congress which said he was in the friendly country to attend the marriage function of a journalist friend and that it is not a crime to attend weddings of family and friends.

    BJP’s social media department head Amit Malviya tweeted Gandhi’s video that went viral on social media.

    “Rahul Gandhi was at a nightclub when Mumbai was under seize(sic). He is at a nightclub at a time when his party is exploding. He is consistent. Interestingly, soon after the Congress refused to outsource their presidency, hit jobs have begun on their Prime Ministerial candidate,” Malviya said in the tweet.

    Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala hit back, saying Gandhi was in Nepal for a private wedding and has not gone there uninvited.

    “Rahul Gandhi has not gone as an uninvited guest like Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone to Pakistan to celebrate the birthday and cut cakes for the then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. Rahul Gandhi has gone to a friendly country Nepal to participate in a private marriage function of a friend. By chance, the friend also happens to be a journalist,” he said.

    Surjewala also hit out at the RSS, saying it is not a crime to attend weddings of family and friends as it is part of our culture, unlike the RSS.

    “Last when I checked, having a family in this country and having friends, attending marriage and engagement ceremonies is a matter of our culture and civilisation. It has still not become a crime in this country to be married, to be friends with someone or to attend their marriage celebration. Maybe after today, Prime Minister Modi or the BJP may decide that it is illegal to attend a marriage. They may say it is a crime to have friends or participate in family functions,” he said.

    “But, do let me know so that we all change our status and habits and civilisational practices of attending marriages of friends, as also family members,” Surjewala also said.

    Gandhi arrived in Nepal on Monday on a five-day private visit to the country.

    According to The Kathmandu Post newspaper, the Congress leader is in Kathmandu to attend the wedding of his Nepali friend Sumnima Udas.

    “We had extended an invitation to Gandhi to attend the wedding of my daughter,” said Bhim Udas, Sumnima’s father who also served as Nepal’s Ambassador to Myanmar.

    Sumnima, a former CNN correspondent, is getting married to Nima Martin Sherpa, the report had said.

    The marriage function is planned for Tuesday and a reception will be held on May 5 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bauddha, the bride’s father Bhim said.

  • Parl panel to summon Google, Twitter, Amazon, other big tech firms to discuss their competitive conduct

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: With a number of global tech giants facing CCI probe for alleged anti-competitive practices, a key Parliamentary panel on Thursday decided to summon representatives of Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and others to examine their competitive behaviour.

    The next meeting of the panel on the issue is likely to be held on May 12. The issue was discussed in detail by members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance after a presentation was made before it by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

    The regulator told the panel that it was setting up a ‘Digital Markets and Data Unit’ for effectively dealing with anti-competition practices of big tech companies and bringing a new bill to amend the CCI Act.

    CCI also cited a number of investigations it is carrying out in the digital space, including those against Google, Facebook-WhatsApp, Apple, Amazon, Flipkart, MakeMyTrip-Goibibo, Swiggy and Zomato.

    The meeting also comes against the backdrop of mounting concerns globally, including in India, about alleged practices of big tech players and technology platforms that could be adversely impacting competition in the market place.

    About the meeting, the panel’s Chairman Jayant Sinha told PTI that it had “an excellent set of discussions” with officials from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Competition Commission of India.

    “In our next hearing (on this issue), we will be calling most of the major tech companies to hear their perspective and how competition law in India is evolving to address the needs and challenges associated with digital space. All of the major companies we are going to invite. Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Microsoft and others. Competition laws is evolving across the world to meet the challenges associated with the digital markets,” Sinha said.

    Sinha, a BJP leader and a former Union minister, said the panel will discuss about competitive behaviour of these companies.

    According to sources, BJP member CM Ramesh raised the issue of cartelisation among cement companies with the CCI officials and their response on the matter is expected in the next meeting. Besides, the panel discussed about the existing competition law.

    According to Sinha, the CCI Act was initiated in 2002 and last amended in 2007.

    A bill to amend the Act is also underway wherein provisions are likely to be introduced to deal with anti-competition practices of tech giants, CCI told the panel.

    “It has been 15 years since substantial amendments have been made to our competition law.”

    “With the rise of digital markets and the importance of the digital economy for the India’s economic growth and global position, it is very important to look at our competition law to see whether it is the equal to those in the advanced jurisdictions like the European Union, United States, Australia and United Kingdom,” Sinha said.

    According to him, today’s discussions were to assess how the competition law is evolving and what else is required to position it for the future.

    “We as a committee are examining what direction our competition law should evolve to meet these requirements,” he noted.

    In the presentation, CCI also said that it was strengthening its institutional capacity, recalibrating the competition law regime, observing global developments in big tech and monitoring technological developments in digital markets.

  • ‘Quockerwodger’: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s latest head-scratcher for Twitter lexicon

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, known for throwing in rarely-used, often difficult-to-pronounce English words into Twitter lexicon, on Wednesday posted another head-scratcher — quockerwodger.

    A useful addition to our political vocabulary!? #Quockerwodger pic.twitter.com/iGSCMY6tzA
    — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 20, 2022
    The man of many words helpfully shared the meaning too. “A quockerwodger was a type of wooden puppet.In politics, a quockerwodger was a politician acting on the instructions of an influential third party, rather than properly representing their constituents,” he said.

    “A useful addition to our political vocabulary!?” Tharoor added about the word he informed dates back to 1860. This is not the first time the author-politician-wordsmith has sent Twitterati scurrying for their dictionaries to confirm whether such a word indeed exists.

    Last year, Tharoor took a dig at the BJP with the word ‘allodoxaphobia’, which he explained was an irrational fear of opinions. Before that, the Congress MP engaged in a friendly banter with TRS working president KT Rama Rao over COVID-19 medicine names and threw in the obscure ‘floccinaucinihilipilification’.

    Oxford dictionary describes ‘floccinaucinihilipilification’ as the action or habit of estimating something as worthless. In the past, he has stumped people with words such as ‘farrago’ and ‘troglodyte’. While ‘farrago’ means a confused mixture, a ‘troglodyte’ means a person regarded as being deliberately ignorant or old-fashioned.

  • Ballygunge bypoll: Defeated CPM nominee Saira Halim gets in Twitter spat with winner Babul Supriyo

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Ballygunge assembly seat byelection winner Babul Supriyo of the Trinamool Congress and runner-up Saira Shah Halim of the CPM entered into a battle of words on social media on Sunday, with the former BJP MP attacking her for showing “no class” after defeat and terming the Left party’s campaign as “below the belt”.

    Taking to Twitter to retaliate, Halim said that her party believes in a classless society where the rich and the poor will not be differentiated by the wealth and property they own. “I am relieved that we won Ballygunge defeating the vile, dirty, often below the belt, personal & false propaganda of @CPIM_WESTBENGAL,” Supriyo tweeted.

    And, now the lady who’s a loser by people’s verdict, doesn’t show the grace to accept the defeat but instead goes ahead to call me ‘Corrupt’But I will humbly & calmly enjoy the win letting her sulk in the pain of the loss Proves#EducationDoNotMakeOneEducated #LoserBjpCpim https://t.co/AY9eMnVXOU
    — Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) April 16, 2022
    Supriyo, who joined the TMC in September last year after being dropped as a minister of state from the Narendra Modi government, claimed that BJP candidate Keya Ghosh had her deposit forfeited for getting less than 6 per cent of the total votes cast.

    The newly-elected MLA from the prestigious Ballygunge seat in south Kolkata earlier tweeted, “Even after a filthy deplorable campaign full of lies & deceit @CPIM_WESTBENGAL & Saira Shah Halim shows no class, forget shame.”

    He also sought to remind the CPM that it has no representation in the West Bengal assembly with the Left Front not winning any seat in the 2021 elections in the state.

    Reacting to Supriyo’s tweets, Halim tweeted, “We believe in a classless society, where rich and poor will not be differentiated by the wealth and property they own. Anyone who judges me as having ‘no class’, knows what he is fighting against.”

    We believe in a classless society,where rich and poor will not be differentiated by the wealth and property they own.Anyone who judges me as having “no class”, knows what he is fighting against.
    — Saira Shah Halim ‏‎‎سائرہ (@sairashahhalim) April 17, 2022
    Accusing the CPM of resorting to a communal campaign in the byelection to Ballygunge, where more than 50 per cent of the electorate are from the minority community, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “It may have got some votes, but that does not mean a revival of the CPM is on the cards.”

    Ghosh said that the TMC leadership will look into how the Left party got more votes than what it had bagged in the last elections. He said that the CPM’s performance in the Asansol Lok Sabha by-election, which was won by the TMC’s Shatrughan Sinha with the BJP coming second, has been disastrous.

    Rising from just 5.61 per cent of the vote share in Ballygunge in the 2021 assembly elections, the CPIM) candidate notched up over 30 per cent of the votes polled in the by-poll, leaving behind the BJP to come up to the second position.

    The CPM last won from Ballygunge in 2001 and secured a third position behind the TMC and the BJP in the 2021 elections, which her husband Fuad Halim had contested.

  • Twitter removes controversial caricature tweeted by Gujarat BJP, party says not against any religion

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: A day after Twitter removed a caricature tweeted by the Gujarat BJP unit on a court verdict sentencing 38 people to death in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts, the ruling party on Monday claimed the cartoon was based on real photographs and did not target any particular religion or community.

    But, the opposition Congress and some social activists hailed Twitter’s decision to remove the cartoon, and claimed the BJP was trying to gain political mileage out of the court’s judgement.

    The cartoon depicted a group of bearded men wearing skull caps hanging by a noose.

    It had a tricolour and a drawing depicting the scene of a bomb blast in the background, with “Satyamev Jayate” written on its top right corner.

    It was posted on the Gujarat BJP’s official Twitter handle on Saturday, a day after a special court here sentenced to death 38 convicts and handed life terms to 11 others in the case of 2008 serial bomb blasts in which 56 people had lost their lives and over 200 were injured.

    The caricature is not available on either the Instagram or Facebook social media pages of the state BJP unit.

    “The sketch was based on real photographs of the convicts published by newspapers a day after the verdict. The Gujarat BJP or its social media team had no intention to target any particular religion or community through the sketch,” state party unit spokesperson Dr Rutvij Patel said.

    He said when (terrorist) Osama Bin Laden was killed by American soldiers, his sketch was also published in the US.

    “Our sketch was just an artistic expression shared on social media, nothing else,” Patel said.

    Gujarat BJP’s media coordinator Yagnesh Dave on Sunday said Twitter removed the caricature after “someone had reported against it”.

    Meanwhile, state Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi welcomed Twitter’s action.

    “We firmly believe that terrorism has no religion. The Congress had lost two if its leaders – Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi – fighting terrorism. The verdicts of courts must not be seen through a political prism,” he said.

    “But, the BJP tried to take political advantage out of this (2008 Ahmedabad blasts case) judgement. This is BJP’s old tactic to remain in power. Instead of indulging in such dramas, the BJP should focus on issues concerning the common man,” the Congress leader said.

    Social activist Mujahid Nafees, who also runs an NGO for the minority community’s welfare, claimed the BJP always targets the country’s minorities, mainly Muslims and Christians, for political gains.

    “The BJP had published the cartoon with the sole purpose of reigniting polarisation in Uttar Pradesh, where elections are underway. This is an attempt to communalise the issue of terrorism. The BJP believes in divide and rule,” he alleged.

  • Cartoon posted by Gujarat BJP after Ahmedabad blasts verdict causes row, Twitter removes it

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: A caricature tweeted by the Gujarat unit of the BJP hailing the special court’s verdict sentencing 38 convicts to death in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case has been removed by Twitter after a row.

    “The post on the 2008 serial blasts verdict has been removed by Twitter after someone reported against it,” Gujarat BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said on Sunday, adding that the tweet was in response to the court’s judgement.

    The cartoon depicted men wearing skull caps hanging by the noose.

    It had a tricolour and a drawing depicting the scene of a bomb blast in the background, with “Satyamev Jayate” written on its top right corner.

    It was posted on the official Twitter handle of the Gujarat BJP on Saturday, a day after the special court sentenced to death 38 convicts and handed life terms to 11 others in the 2008 serial bombing case in which 56 persons lost their lives and over 200 were injured.

    The caricature is not available on either the Instagram or Facebook social media pages of the state BJP unit.

  • Mamata’s allegations “wildest”, claims Dhankhar

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s comments against him at a TMC meeting during the day were “wildest of allegations” and have no credibility.

    He asked Banerjee to point out any document written by him or tweet posted by him which is in abusive language or is not justified under constitutional provisions.

    Banerjee had criticised Dhankhar at a Trinamool Congress meeting during the day without naming him.

    “What she has said, there is no credibility in them for me. It does not behove the chief minister to make such wild allegations,” Dhankhar told reporters here.

    Banerjee had criticised Dhankhar at a Trinamool Congress meeting during the day without naming him.

    The governor termed as “100 per cent factually incorrect” the chief minister’s claim that he gets food delivered from a five-star hotel in the city everyday.

    “All that the chief minister said are wildest of allegations. There are abuses against me, invectives against me,” he said and asserted that nothing will deter him from the constitutional path.

    He said that it is his duty to ensure that governance of the state is in accordance with the constitution and rule of law.

    “For two and half years there has been total failure at your (Banerjee’s) end to perform your constitutional duty under Article 167 to give information to the governor,” he said, claiming that detail was sought from the Mamata Banerjee government in aspects where “serious allegations were made of fiscal irregularities”.

    Dhankhar claimed that she has made wild allegations questioning the happenings in Raj Bhavan and hinted at telephonic tapping.

    “Perception by and large is because of the present (TMC) government that people in the state have taken to telephoning only on Whatsapp, Facetime, Signal and Telegram and that is a terrifying state of affairs,” Dhankhar said.

    He alleged that fear is haunting virtually every mind of the state. “You (Banerjee) are in your third term. You have today been again elected chairperson of your party. On this day I appeal to you to soul search, respond to your conscience, keep in your heart not the pursuit of power but helping the more than nine crore people of the state,” the governor said.

    Dhankhar claimed that the chief minister had described a horse of the Kolkata Police, which was perhaps not in line during the Republic Day parade, as showing its back to him. “Where are we heading, are we to engage in mudslinging?” he asked.

    Calling for dialogue between the governor and the chief minister, Dhankar said that he will be “happy to walk the extra mile”.

    He said that Banerjee wanted to make an emotional issue of his raising the question of funding for ‘Maa Canteen’ (introduced by TMC government to provide meals for Rs 5 only) which was launched before the stipulated date of April 1, 2021.

    “My point is very simple – where did the money come from? Maa Canteen was operational from mid-February to March 31, 2021 but the constitutional allocation was only from April, 2021,” he said. Replies to his questions on ‘Maa Canteen’ have to come from the government, Dhankhar said.

    The governor said he is not a stakeholder in politics and claimed that the performance of the bureaucracy in the state is turning out to be a challenge to the rule of law. He will ensure that governance in Bengal is in accordance with it. “I want investment in the state. But it can come only when there is right environment, democratic values flourish, human rights blossom, there is rule of law and bureaucracy is apolitical,” the governor, who earlier attended a business chamber programme, said.

    Asserting that no file is pending with him as alleged by the chief minister, Dhankhar claimed that it is the Mamata Banerjee government that has not been able to reply to issues on which he raised questions.

    There is an ongoing tussle between the governor and the TMC dispensation over the issue of his assent to a bill on bifurcation of Howrah Municipal Corporation.

    While TMC has claimed that the issue of his not giving assent is delaying the election to Howrah Municipal Corporation, the governor has said that questions raised by him on the bill are yet to be replied to by the government.