Congress accuses Twitter of 'blatantly colluding with Centre to stifle democracy'

New Delhi [India], August 12 (ANI): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday slammed Twitter for suspending the accounts of several members including party secretary-general KC Venugopal, AICC's Ajay Maken, Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore among others and accused the social media platform of "blatantly colluding with the stifling of democracy by the BJP government in India".
The general secretary of the All India Congress Committee in charge of Uttar Pradesh further accused the social media platform of following the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government for the suspension of Congress leaders' accounts.
In a tweet today, the Congress leader said, "Is Twitter following its own policy for the suspension of Congress leaders' accounts or the Modi government's? Why hadn't it locked the account of SC commission that had tweeted similar photos before any of our leaders did?"
"By locking Congress leaders' accounts en masse, Twitter is blatantly colluding with the stifling of democracy by the BJP government in India," she said in a mother tweet.
Congress on Thursday said that it has informed that it will remain active on other social media platforms after the microblogging site Twitter suspended accounts of several Congress members including party secretary-general KC Venugopal, AICC's Ajay Maken, Loksabha MP Manickam Tagore among others.
The party in an official statement said: "Twitter India has locked the official handle of the main opposition party--Congress--an unprecedented attack on the rising voice of the people. @RahulGandhi @INCIndia. Several accounts including Randeep Singh Surjewala have also been blocked by Twitter."
"Twitter is closed, but other social media platforms of Congress are fully active and disseminating all necessary information and content," informed the official statement.
Clarifying its position on the blocking of accounts of Congress party and several of its leaders, Twitter on Thursday said its rules are enforced judiciously and impartially for everyone on its service. In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said the microblogging site will continue to take proactive action if its rules are violated.
Earlier today, after blocking the official accounts of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other senior party leaders, Twitter has also blocked the official handle of the Indian National Congress (INC) for violating the rules of the microblogging site.
Reacting to the development, Social Media Head of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Rohan Gupta said that nothing will deter the party from raising the voice of the people.
Gupta alleged that Twitter while acting under the government's pressure, has blocked accounts of more than 5,000 party leaders and workers across India.
Raising questions on microblogging site's action, Gupta said, "Twitter has blocked its account for violation of rules, Twitter acting under government pressure. Twitter is acting under the government's pressure. If it is a violation of Twitter policy, then why the photo of the (Victim's) family was there on the Scheduled Caste (SC) commission handle from August 2 to August 5." (ANI)