The Congress stated on Saturday that Twitter had “temporarily suspended” Rahul Gandhi’s account, but later acknowledged it had been “temporarily locked” after the microblogging platform stated that the account had not been restricted and confirmed that it was still operational.
Twitter took action in response to Gandhi’s viral photograph of him meeting the family of a nine-year-old Dalit girl who died in Delhi after an alleged sexual assault and murder. The account was discovered to have infringed Twitter’s rules on sharing sensitive information.
Some features of Gandhi’s account have been temporarily banned, according to party sources, and while he was able to explore the social networking platform and send direct messages to his followers, no tweets, retweets, follows, or likes were enabled. According to the insiders, Twitter has notified him that once he deletes the tweet that violated its rules, all of the account’s privileges will be restored within 12 hours. Sources within the party said that Gandhi had done nothing illegal and that the relatives of the girl had given their approval for the photograph to be posted.
If any account violates Twitter rules or seems to be compromised, it will be locked, according to the social media giant. “We may ask you to complete certain actions before we start the countdown on your limited state,” the company added. “These actions may include verifying your email address, adding a phone number to your account, or deleting Tweets that are in violation of our rules.”
In response to concerns regarding Congress’ allegation, Twitter stated that the account has not been suspended and is still operational. When a user’s account is suspended, Twitter conceals it from public visibility, according to the microblogging company.
Gandhi met the minor’s parents in Purana Nangal village near Delhi Cantonment on Wednesday. Following that, he tweeted a photograph of him and her parents interacting inside a car. He tweeted the photo with the caption, “Parents’ tears are saying only one thing – their daughter, the daughter of this country, deserves justice.”
On Wednesday, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) requested that the Delhi Police and Twitter take some action against Gandhi for posting a picture of the girl’s family on Twitter, claiming that it violated the Juvenile Justice Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The report comes after Gandhi was criticized by Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra for tweeting the photo. Patra said, “This is using Dalits and the poor for furthering your own political agenda.”
Source: Press Trust of India