Opening a debate on whether tech companies can suspend accounts as it permanently suspended outgoing US president Donald Trump’s account, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Saturday said freedom of expression is sacrosanct. “It can not be curtailed whimsically by private big tech companies without accountability,” he wrote on Twitter.
His comment came after former Karnataka Congress social media head appealed to Twitter India to ban the Twitter accounts of BJP leaders Amit Malviya and Tejasvi Surya. “Hate in India isn’t acceptable. Let’s hold them accountable just like in America,” Srivatsa YB tweeted. “Sorry dude, I don’t want Twitter to ban anyone — Congressi or BJP or anyone… But one certainly can’t expect such statesmanship from a party that imposed Emergency,” Tejasvi wrote taking a swipe at the Congress.
Earlier in the day, Tejasvi urged the government to review intermediaries guidelines, saying that the action on part of the micro-blogging platform is a wake-up call for democracies, “This must be wake up call for all who don’t yet understand threat to our democracies by unregulated big tech companies. If they can do this to POTUS, they can do this to anyone,” he tweeted.
“Intermediaries, as per their definition, can’t interfere in content on Social Media platforms. But Rules thereunder say otherwise. This anomaly must be addressed immediately,” Tejasvi tweeted.
Twitter on Saturday permanently banned Donald Trump’s account @realDonaldTrump, and then his @TeamTrump campaign account as it tweeted a statement of President Trump. Twitter also deleted new tweets from official account of @POTUS.
The action evoked mixed response from Indian politicians as Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, too, highlighted that the action does not exonerate the platform from enabling hate, fake news in different parts of the world.
“The platform is provided by a tech company & they are bound to set their rules of engagement after adhering to guidelines set by countries. However, for them to have amplified a hateful narrative for years to suddenly ban does not give them the moral high ground they seek,” she wrote.
“These platforms have been enablers of hate, fake news and continue to be so in different parts of the world where they operate. Now that Trump is out of power suspension coming from all these very platforms that powered him. Sowed hate to reap profits & now being holier than thou,” she added.