“This tweet was not published in India in response to a legal request.” This is the mention that some users in India have been able to read on Twitter instead of posting it, in recent days, shouting at the censorship of the social network.
These messages follow a blockade orchestrated by the Indian government. The aim was to prevent the publication of videos or tweets evoking a BBC documentary on Narendra Modi, the country’s prime minister.
Videos on YouTube and tweets sharing “hostile propaganda and anti-India nonsense from the BBC, disguised as a ‘documentary’… have been blocked,” he further stated on Saturday in Twitter Kanchan Gupta, a government adviser.
“All the hallmarks of an ethnic purge”
In its documentary, the English medium takes up a declassified report from the British Foreign Office on the riots of 2002 in India. They erupted after the death of 59 Hindus, India’s largest community, in a fire aboard a train. Subsequently, 31 Muslims were convicted of criminal association and murder.
The declassified report cites unnamed sources as saying that Narendra Modi, himself a Hindu, met with police officers to “order them not to intervene” during the anti-Muslim violence that followed the deaths of the pilgrims.
This “systematic campaign of violence has all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing” and was impossible “without the climate of impunity created by the state government (…) Narendra Modi is directly responsible,” the report concludes. This tends to cast doubt on the credibility of the Supreme Court of India, which acquitted the Prime Minister in 2012.
It is around these revived religious tensions that Twitter is accused of curbing free speech. The social network is accused of having respected the instructions of the Indian government. In total, more than fifty publications have been blocked in order to prevent the dissemination of the information revealed by the BBC documentary.
“First time I hear this”
Questioned on the subject, Elon Musk assured that he had never heard of this matter. However, the new owner of Twitter had made freedom of expression his workhorse.
The American Indian Muslim Council criticized Twitter’s stance. NBC News quotes the association’s executive director, Rasheed Ahmed: “Self-proclaimed free speech absolutists like Elon Musk need to lead by example.” He also regrets the choice of profit over human rights.
This case occurs when the social network restored the Kangana Ranaut account. This Bollywood star had been banned from Twitter after repeatedly breaking the rules regarding hateful behavior. She is an ardent supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Furthermore, the country is currently experiencing an outbreak of religious conflict. Released on January 25 in India, the big-budget action film lout controversial among extremist Hindu groups. Apart from its Muslim lead, they are protesting one of the songs featuring an actress in a saffron bikini. However, this shade is associated with the Hindu religion and is therefore considered sacred.
Source: BFM TV
