‘Lies’ vs ‘Not shocking’: BJP, Oppn’s verbal duel as Dorsey claims threat to Twitter during Farmers’ Stir

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s sensational accusations of “threat from the Indian government” sparked a massive war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government and opposition parties.

While Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar dismissed the allegations as an “outright lie”, Congressman Manish Tewari said Dorsey’s claims are “not at all surprising” given that after 2014 there has been a “systematic erosion of free speech and civil liberties in the country”.

“Unfortunately, this phenomenon is not limited to the national government alone. Certain state governments have also been equally draconian and authoritarian in the way they try to suppress dissent and ban alternative voices,” he added.

In an interview, Dorsey, who stepped down as CEO of Twitter in 2021, claimed that the Indian government “pressured” the company with threats of closure and raids on employees if it failed to comply with requests to remove posts and accounts that were critical to limit. from the government on farmers’ protest against new farm laws in 2020 and 2021.

The state minister for IT ignored the claims, tweeting that Dorsey’s Twitter regime had “a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law”.

To talk with News18, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “Facts are very simple. Twitter, as a company, thought it was outside the sovereignty of Indian laws. They repeatedly violated Indian laws from 2020 to 2022. It wasn’t until June last year that they started adhering to the Indian rule.”

He went on to say that during the entire period they were in violation of Indian law, no one was ambushed or jailed.

“Twitter, led by Jack Dorsey, abused the platform to silence some people and empower some people; to platform and de-platform some people. They violated articles 14 and 19 of our Indian constitution and the rights of Indian citizens every day. I find it astonishing that a man who was in charge of such a violation of fundamental rights should suddenly turn up and spread lies,” the minister said.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also said Dorsey is lying and trying to politicize the matter.

Opposition response to Jack Dorsey’s claims

Saket Gokhale, the leader of the Trinamool Congress, meanwhile said that the BJP government has turned India’s social media into their “personal propaganda tool”. blatantly breaking laws to intimidate social media companies into crushing criticism,” he added.

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said: “We were told that the kind of outreach on Facebook and Twitter expected in farmer protests would not come. They used to try to stop it at their level. The head (former CEO of Twitter) has now clearly stated this. But such companies are not under pressure from anyone. The Government of India must have made such attempts… What he said is correct”

TMC quoted Ugandan dictator Idi Amin: “There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech”.

Congress leader Srinivas BV uploaded Jack’s statement saying “Mother of Democracy – Unfiltered”.