Saket Gokhale alleges Modi govt made 8863 orders to remove content, suspend accounts on Twitter
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale on Wednesday hit back at the government over refusal of former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s claims that the Indian government “pressured” the microblogging site to act against the critical voices during the farmers protest.
Through a series of tweets, Gokhale has cited official data from Twitter Transparency Reports which suggests that the Centre cracks down critical voices. He shared that India submitted maximum government requests for account information during the peak of Anti-CAA and farmers protests.
Between January to December 2020, the government demanded for user details of 5830 accounts which saw an exponential increase of 425% compared to information sought on 1057 accounts in 2019. He stated that the government made 8863 orders for removal of content & account suspension on Twitter in 2021. However, only 32 were court-ordered.
Gokhale also compared the data with other countries which showcased that India accounted for 8% of the global demands of suspension of Twitter accounts. India made 3992 orders for suspension of 12,916 accounts whereas UK and US ordered suspension for 16 and 32 accounts respectively. Only Turkey (4284) and Russia (8370) demanded for more suspension of accounts than India.
It is crystal clear, Gokhale suggests, that the Modi government made “unprecedented demands for Twitter censorship during the anti-CAA & Farmer Protests”. He further questioned whether the ruling party will have the guts to deny this data and term the same as “lies” and “foreign conspiracy”.
Nailing the lies of Modi Govt on Twitter ex-CEO Jack Dorsey's allegations of censorship & spying:
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) June 14, 2023
Modi Govt has denied allegations of indulging in spying & pressure on Twitter & called them "lies".
But here's the truth based on data from Twitter's Transparency Reports.
In the recorded period of the peak of the Anti-CAA & Farmers Protest:
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) June 14, 2023
India submitted MAXIMUM GOVT REQUESTS FOR ACCOUNT INFORMATION GLOBALLY during this period
Indian Govt account requests for this period represent 25% OF GLOBAL VOLUME & 15% of ALL GLOBAL ACCOUNTS
(2/13) pic.twitter.com/oyhmEMxvKA
Now in 2021 (COVID period)
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) June 14, 2023
Indian Govt requests for user details comprised 19% of TOTAL GLOBAL REQUESTS.
Let's compare this with % of global requests from other countries:
UK was 4%
Germany was 6%
Brazil was 2%
AND WAIT...
PAKISTAN WAS LESS THAN 1%
(4/13) pic.twitter.com/d6RtOD5OV4
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DC beat PBKS by three wickets, keep playoff hopes alive
Dharamsala (PTI): Half-centuries from skipper Axar Patel and David Miller powered Delhi Capitals to a thrilling three-wicket win over Punjab Kings and kept their slim playoff hopes alive in the Indian Premier League here on Monday.
Sent in to bat, Priyansh Arya (56 off 33) and Prabhsimran Singh (18) shared 78 runs off 41 balls for the opening wicket for PBKS.
After their departure, Shreyas Iyer (59 not out off 36 balls) and Cooper Connolly (38 off 27) took responsibility to carry the innings forward as PBKS posted 210 for five.
In reply, DC slipped to 74 for four but Axar (56) and Miller (51) resurrected the chase, while Ashutosh Sharma and Madhav Tiwari completed the task, scoring 216 for seven in 19 overs.
Mitchell Starc (2/57) and Madhav (2/40) picked up two wickets each for DC.
For PBKS, Arshdeep Singh (2/21), Ben Dwarshuis (1/51) and Marcus Stoinis (1/44) were among the wicket-takers.
Brief Scores:
Punjab Kings: 210 for 5 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 59 not out, Priyansh Arya 56; Madhav Tiawai 2/40).
Delhi Capitals: 219 for 7 in 19 overs (Axar Patel 56, David Miller 51; Arshdeep Singh 2/21)
