Centre rebuts Jack Dorsey's claims of Twitter facing pressure during Indian farmers' protest
terms it "outright lie"
New Delhi (PTI): Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a stunning allegation claimed that the micro-blogging platform had faced government pressure and threats of shutdown during farmer's protest, a statement that evoked a sharp rebuttal from Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar who termed it an "outright lie".
Rubbishing the claims, the Minister of State for IT tweeted that Dorsey's Twitter regime "had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law".
"No one went to jail nor was twitter `shutdown'," Chandrasekhar said.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former Twitter CEO has alleged that during the farmer protest the Indian government pressurised the microblogging platform and threatened to shut down Twitter in India, raid the homes of employees if it didn't listen to what was being told.
Chandrasekhar tweeted that: "@twitter under Dorsey and his team were in repeated and continuous violations of India law. As a matter of fact they were in non-compliance with law repeatedly from 2020 to 2022 and it was only June 2022 when they finally complied".
Dorsey's Twitter regime had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law, and it behaved as if the laws of India did not apply to it, Chandrasekhar said.
"India as a sovereign nation has the right to ensure that its laws are followed by all companies operating in India," the Minister said.
During the protests in January 2021, there was a lot of misinformation and even reports of genocide which were definitely fake, the Minister said adding that the government was obligated to remove misinformation from the platform as it had the potential to further inflame the situation based on fake news.
"Such was the level of partisan behaviour on Twitter under Jack regime, that they had a problem removing misinformation from the platform in India, when they did it themselves when similar events took place in the USA," Chandrasekhar said.
To set the record straight, no one was raided or sent to jail, and the focus was entirely on ensuring the compliance of Indian laws.
"There is ample evidence now in public domain about Jacks twitter's arbitrary, blatantly partisan and discriminatory conduct and misuse of its power on its platform during that period," he further said.
"Twitter under Dorsey was not just violating Indian law, but was partisan in how it was using "deamplify" and deplatforming of some arbitrarily in violation of Art 14, 19 of our constitution and also assisting in weaponising of misinformation," he said. PTI MBI.
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UDF leaders see local body poll trends as pointer to 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Buoyed by the strong performance of the Congress-led UDF in the local body polls, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the front's results indicated the people had rejected the LDF government.
According to early trends, the UDF was leading in more grama panchayats, block panchayats, municipalities and corporations than the LDF.
The local body polls were held in two phases in the state earlier this week.
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Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said the people of Kerala had extended their support to the UDF.
"We could expose the LDF government’s anti-people stance and the people understood it. The LDF’s fake propaganda was rejected by the people. The UDF is moving towards a historic victory," he said.
He said a united effort, proper preparations, good candidate selection and hard work had resulted in the Congress and the UDF’s victory in the elections.
Asked about the prospects in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Joseph said the party was studying the matter and would comment later.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the results would be closely examined.
According to him, the government had done everything possible for the people.
"Why such a verdict happened will be examined at the micro level. People’s opinion will be considered and further steps will be taken," he said.
He added that decisions would be taken after analysing the results. "If any corrective measures are required, we will initiate them and move forward," he said.
AICC leader K C Venugopal said the results showed that people had begun ousting those who, he alleged, were responsible for the loss of gold at Lord Ayyappa’s temple.
"This trend will continue in the Assembly elections as well. It is an indication that the people are ready to bring down the LDF government," he said.
Venugopal said the UDF had registered victories even in CPI(M) and LDF strongholds.
"I congratulate all UDF workers for their hard work. Congress workers and leaders worked unitedly," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Congress on polling day, Venugopal said the voters had responded through the verdict.
"I do not know whether the chief minister understands that the people are against him. Otherwise, he does not know the sentiment of the people. The state government cannot move an inch further," he said.
He said the results indicated a strong comeback for the UDF in Kerala.
Asked whether the Sabarimala gold loss issue had affected the LDF in the local polls, Venugopal said the CM and the CPI(M) state secretary did not take the issue seriously.
"We took a strong stand on the matter. The BJP played a foul game in it," he alleged.
On the BJP's role in the local body elections, Venugopal alleged that the party operated with the CPI(M) 's tacit support.
"The CPI(M) supported the central government on issues such as PM-SHRI, labour codes and corruption in national highway construction. The CPI(M) is facing ideological decline, and the state government’s policies are against the party’s own decisions," he said.
Meanwhile, LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said the party could not win all the wards it had expected in the elections.
He congratulated winners from all parties and said the party would closely examine the losses and identify shortcomings. "Later, we will take corrective measures," he added.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rajmohan Unnithan said the trends in the local body elections indicated that the UDF would return to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
"We will win 111 seats as in 1977 and return to power in 2026. The anti-government sentiment of the people is reflected in the elections," he said.
Unnithan said the people were disturbed and unhappy with the present government.
"The trend indicates the end of the LDF government," he added.
CPI(M) MLA M M Mani said the people had shown ingratitude towards the LDF despite benefiting from welfare schemes.
"After receiving all welfare schemes and living comfortably, people voted against us due to some temporary sentiments. Is that not ingratitude," he asked.
Mani said no such welfare initiatives had taken place in Kerala earlier.
"People are receiving pensions and have enough to eat. Even after getting all this, they voted against us. This is what can be called ingratitude," he said.
Muslim League state president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the results were beyond expectations.
"The outcome points towards the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, indicating that a change of government is imminent. We are going to win the Assembly election," he said.
