New Delhi: Congress Says Twitter Account Locked ,The official Twitter handles of the Congress and around 5,000 of its leaders and workers have been locked, the party said Thursday, amid growing controversy over “selective” action against Rahul Gandhi and others for posting photographs that show Mr. Gandhi interacting with the family of the nine-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly raped and killed in Delhi last week.
This morning’s Instagram post contained a screenshot of the Congress’ account and a message from Twitter that said it had been locked because it “violated Twitter rules” regarding publishing or posting other people’s private information without their express authorization and permission”.
“Modiji, just how afraid are you? Reminder: The Congress party fought for our nation’s independence, equipped only with truth, non-violence & the will of the people. We won then, we’ll win again,” the Congress said.
According to the ‘help’ section on Twitter’s website, a ‘locked’ account means the user cannot tweet and “can only send Direct Messages to followers”. The user “will not be able to engage in actions such as tweeting, retweeting, or liking, and only followers can see past tweets.”
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Stop beating around the bush and comply with the laws of land: Govt hits back at Twitter
Under existing laws – the Juvenile Justice Act and the POCSO Act – it is illegal to disclose the identity of a minor via any form of media or publish any information that may reveal his/her identity.
The locked handles have provoked a furious backlash from Congress, which has accused the government of intimidating Twitter. The party has also referred to similar images tweeted by accounts belonging to BJP Lok Sabha MP Anju Bala and the Scheduled Castes Commission.
“Twitter is clearly acting under government pressure… it did not remove the same pictures shared by the accounts of National Commission for Scheduled Castes for a few days,” AICC social media head Rohan Gupta told news agency PTI.
This morning Pranav Jha, the party’s Secretary in-Charge for Communication tweeted, tagging Prime Minister Modi, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, and Twitter chief Jack Dorsey.