As Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey made some sensational allegations against the Indian government, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday refuted the claims and said that foreign forces get active to “vitiate the democratic process and build tension” in the country as elections approach. The BJP leader’s reaction came after Dorsey claimed that the Narendra Modi-led Indian government threatened to shut down the micro-blogging platform unless it complied with orders to restrict accounts during farmers’ protest.
Thakur said the “false” claims made by Dorsey were an attempt to cover up past misdeeds and Twitter’s internal communications had exposed that the platform was “misused and there was bias and tinkering”.
भारत दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा और पारदर्शी लोकतंत्र है। भारत में जब भी चुनाव नज़दीक होते हैं तो कुछ विदेशी ताक़तें और यहाँ उनके एजेंट एक योजनाबद्ध तरीक़े से देश को अस्थिर व बदनाम करने के लिए सक्रिय होते हैं।जैक डोर्सी सफ़ेद झूठ बोल रहे हैं।
ट्विटर के टेकओवर पर ट्विटर फ़ाइल्स को… pic.twitter.com/LDsorlcFnC
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) June 13, 2023
Speaking to news agency ANI, Thakur said, “What was said, is a blatant lie. Jack Dorsey woke up after years of sleep and wants to cover up his misdeeds. When Twitter was bought by another person, it was revealed in ‘Twitter Files’ how was the platform being misused. Jack Dorsey has not been able to answer this to date because he was exposed. Several foreign forces wake up when elections approach India.”
Stepping up attack on “foreign powers”, the BJP leader told reporters, “Such elements within the country and abroad will never be able to destabilise the nation which is being led by a strong leader.”
Dorsey, who quit as Twitter CEO in 2021, claimed in an interview Indian government “pressured” the company with threats of a shutdown and raids on employees if it did not comply with requests to take down posts and restrict accounts, a charge rubbished by the government.
He made the allegation in an interview with the YouTube news show Breaking Points on Monday. “It manifested in ways such as: ‘We will shut Twitter down in India’, which is a very large market for us; ‘we will raid the homes of your employees’, which they did; And this is India, a democratic country,” he said talking about pressures Twitter faced from the Indian government when he was the CEO.
A political row triggered after Dorsey’s claim as the Opposition accused the Centre of “suppressing” social media. However, Union Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar has dismissed Dorsey’s claims and called it an “outright lie”.
Citing Dorsey’s remarks, the Congress said the government should stop “suppressing” social media and journalists and demanded answers from the Modi government over the issue. The Opposition party alleged that there cannot be a bigger proof of the “weakening of democracy” in the country by targeting institutions.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the political progeny of the BJP-RSS who stood against Indians and fought in favour of the British in the freedom movement, should not pretend to be nationalists over former Twitter CEO’s remarks.
“BJP leads in embarrassing the country…. We will continue to foil BJP’s conspiracy to end democracy in the country,” Kharge said in a tweet in Hindi.
With inputs from News18, PTI
The post Anurag Thakur links ex-Twitter boss disclosures to elections first appeared on IPA Newspack.
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