Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account restored after row over locking it
Twitter has restored Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's account, one week after temporarily locking it. Gandhi was denied access to his account by the social media company for posting the pictures of the family of a nine-year-old Dalit girl, who was raped and killed in Delhi earlier this month. Gandhi and other Opposition leaders have accused Twitter of bias over the said action.
However, his controversial tweet has been withheld
However, the controversial tweet in question has been withheld in India, a Twitter spokesperson stated. "As explained in our country withheld policy, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in accordance with valid legal provisions under the Indian law(s)," they said. Soon after Gandhi's account was restored this morning, the Congress party tweeted, "Satyameva Jayate (Truth triumphs)."
Gandhi has submitted consent letter for the image: Twitter
Twitter said Gandhi's account was unlocked after he submitted a formal consent letter to use the specific image. "We have followed the necessary due diligence process to review the appeal in order to protect the safety and privacy of the affected individuals. We have updated our enforcement action based on the consent provided by the people depicted in the image."
'A win for the people of India'
The Twitter accounts of other Congress leaders, who had faced similar action, have also been restored, said Rohan Gupta, the chief of Congress' social media department. Gupta called it a "win for the people of India."
Gandhi had slammed Twitter and called it 'biased'
Twitter's move comes a day after Gandhi lashed out at the company over this issue. He accused the social media giant of being biased and interfering in India's political processes. "Our democracy is under attack," he said in a YouTube video yesterday. "A company is making its business to define our politics. And as a politician I don't like that."
Accounts of Gandhi and others were locked last week
The Twitter accounts of Gandhi and several other Congress leaders were locked for sharing pictures that showed him interacting with the family of the nine-year-old rape victim. A locked Twitter account means the owner cannot tweet, retweet, or like any posts. They can only send direct messages to their followers. Besides Gandhi, Twitter accounts of Randeep Singh Surjewala and Ajay Maken were also locked.
What is Twitter's stand on the matter?
Twitter has said its rules are levied "judiciously and impartially" on all users. The company said it was alerted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights about content that "revealed the identity of an alleged sexual assault victim's parents." It took "proactive action on several hundred tweets that posted an image that violated our rules," the company added.
