Twitter blocks 250 tweets and accounts, including The Caravan, Kisan Ekta Morcha following direction from IT Ministry

Microblogging site Twitter on Monday blocked several accounts in India on its platform including those linked with the ongoing farmers’ protest against the Centre’s three farm laws. Twitter said its action was in response to a “legal demand”. Among the accounts blocked were Kisan Ekta Morcha and BKU Ekta Urgahan, both actively involved in the ongoing farmers’ protest. Apart from these, several individuals and organisational accounts including that of media organisation The Caravan, Prasar Bharti CEO Sashi Shekhar Vempati, activist Hansraj Meena, actor Sushant Singh, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Jarnail Singh, and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohammed Salim were also withheld, a report in The Indian Express said. Citing sources, PTI reported that Twitter has blocked 250 handles and posts for allegedly containing ‘false and provocative content’ related to the ongoing farmers’ protest against the three farm laws.

So @thecaravanindia's twitter account is withheld in India. pic.twitter.com/VaGun4GBg4

— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) February 1, 2021

According to these sources, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) directed Twitter to block around 250 tweets/Twitter accounts that were allegedly making ‘fake, intimidatory and provocative tweets’ on 30 January with hashtags accusing the Modi government of planning farmers ‘genocide’ without any further substantiation. The move came at the request of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and law enforcement agencies to prevent any escalation of law and order in view of the ongoing farmers’ protest, the sources said, adding that these tweets/accounts have now been blocked. The sources said “incitement to genocide” is a grave threat to public order, and therefore, MeitY ordered the blocking of these Twitter accounts and tweets under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. When contacted by PTI, a Twitter spokesperson said if it receives a “properly scoped request” from an authorised entity, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in a particular country “from time to time”. “Transparency is vital to protecting freedom of expression, so we have a notice policy for withheld content. Upon receipt of requests to withhold content, we will promptly notify the affected account holders (unless we are prohibited from doing so, eg, if we receive a court order under seal),” the spokesperson added. However, Twitter did not provide details of the accounts/tweets that were blocked. Upon searching for accounts including Kisan Ekta Morcha (@Kisanektamorcha), BKU Ekta Urgahan (@Bkuektaugrahan) and The Caravan (@thecaravanindia)– a message saying “account has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand” was displayed. In a tweet, The Caravan’s executive editor Vinod K Jose confirmed that the magazine’s account has been “withheld”.

While Twitter withheld Caravan’s official handle without informing us, you can still access the magazine from the website. Those who don’t have subscriptions, you could take one here: https://t.co/tjG4WcESWT

India needs bold fair journalism more than ever, now. https://t.co/yL6dOLdzfn

— Vinod K. Jose (@vinodjose) February 1, 2021

This development comes in the wake of violence in Delhi on 26 January during a tractor parade organised by farmers protesting against the three new central agriculture laws. The Delhi Police is currently probing the Republic Day violence, wherein it has lodged multiple FIRs and booked, among others, several farmer leaders leading the protests at the National Capital’s borders since November-end. FIRs have been lodged against some journalists as well. With inputs from PTI