On Koo app, Centre calls Twitter’s ‘freedom of expression’ blog post ‘unusual’

Social media platform Twitter in a blog post on Wednesday said it suspended about 500 accounts that were flagged by the government for allegedly sharing misinformation and provocative content around the ongoing farmers’ agitation. It, however, said it didn’t block accounts of civil society activists, politicians and media as “it would violate their fundamental right to free expression” guaranteed under the country’s constitution.

Now the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has termed Twitter’s blog post as “unusual.” 

Interestingly, the Ministry took to Koo to issue its statement. Koo is the Twitter-like microblogging platform, made in India. 

After the Republic Day fiasco, the Government of India had asked Twitter to take action against 250 Twitter handles, accusing them of inciting violence.

Also Read: Here’s why Atmanirbhar Bharat is siding with Desi Twitter ‘Koo’

Informing the public, Twitter made a blog post stating what directives of the centre it complied with, and what it did not. While taking action against some of the accounts, it also retained the accounts of many over the protection of their fundamental right to expression.

Twitter had already approached the Government of India to talk in more detail about the situation. However, before they could meet over the issue, Twitter published the news of the same online. This did not sit well with the GOI as the Ministry of Electronics and IT also shared that the government will be sharing its response over the matter soon.

Also Read: Twitter says it blocked accounts flagged by govt for misinformation on farmers’ protest

Koo is a social media app that was launched in March, last year. Having won the Prime Minister’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge, this app is emerging as a competitor to Twitter in India. Most government officials have also shifted their verified accounts to this platform.