Indian police visit local Twitter HQ after government spokesperson's tweet labelled as 'manipulated'
(2021/05/25)
- Reference: 1621918688
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/05/25/indian_police_visit_delhi_twitter/
- Source link:
Police in the Indian capital Delhi have turned up at Twitter's local HQ seeking evidence about a tweet made by a prominent political figure that the micro-blogging service labelled as including "manipulated media".
The tweet from Sambit Patra, who holds no elected office but is national spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), included what he claimed to be a document detailing the opposition Congress Party's plan to put political pressure on the government's response to a huge second wave of COVID-19 infections. Patra argued that the document demonstrates a too-cozy relationship between media and Congress.
India's non-profit fact checking website Alt News has [1]said the image accompanying Patra’s tweet is fake.
[2]
[3]
[4]
Here's the contentious Tweet.
Friends look at the [5]#CongressToolKit in extending help to the needy during the Pandemic!
More of a PR exercise with the help of “Friendly Journalists” & “Influencers” than a soulful endeavour.
Read for yourselves the agenda of the Congress: [6]#CongressToolKitExposed [7]pic.twitter.com/3b7c2GN0re — Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) [8]May 18, 2021
Officers from the Delhi Police Service’s Special Cell, a branch for investigating terrorism and organized crime, showed up at Twitter offices in Lado Sarai, Delhi and Gurugram with a notice requiring attendance to assist with investigations into the document Tweeted by Patra.
[9]India orders takedowns of social media posts it claims harm fight against raging COVID-19 outbreak
[10]India pauses blockchain-powered SMS spam-scrubber after it swallows people's one-time login codes
[11]Does a national Digital Intelligence Unit sound a bit sinister? India's new one will co-ordinate action on SMS scams
[12]India lifts 550-day Kashmir internet ban, tries to impose new Twitter ban
Just what Delhi police wanted Twitter to divulge is unclear. No evidence indicates Delhi's finest were following an order from India's government, nor is there any sign that Congress initiated the action. A source told [13]Buzzfeed India the police visit was a routine process following insufficient responses from Twitter India managing director Manish Maheshwari.
It is also unclear whether the police were able to access the building. Numerous [14]sources say Twitter India's employees are [15]working from home during India's current COVID crisis.
Delhi Police Special Cell team returns from Gurgaon after they find the Twitter India offices shut. Apparently there is work from home at [16]@TwitterIndia since March last year. Was this move by Government to send out a message? [17]pic.twitter.com/aCBfjhb5CC — Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) [18]May 24, 2021
The former head of news at Twitter India, Raheel Khursheed, has called the actions an intimidation tactic.
This would be funny if it wasn’t tragic. [19]@DelhiPolice knows that no data is physically stored at [20]@TwitterIndia offices hence purpose of raid is nothing but intimidation. [21]https://t.co/jgfWTMO2L2 — Raheel Khursheed (@Raheelk) [22]May 24, 2021
The ruling BJP has faced criticism for its response to India's second wave of COVID-19 infections, which has seen over 250,000 new daily infections for the last four weeks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attempted to clamp down on social media posts by critics and rival politicians with [23]claims some spread misinformation and cause panic.
Twitter has agreed with many of those claims, making challenged tweets inaccessible from India. But the service has also temporarily hidden posts containing the [24]#ResignModi hashtag. ®
Get our [25]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.altnews.in/covid-toolkit-attributed-to-congress-created-on-forged-letterhead/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YKzKxDt6zR9F2YgoEb9kpAAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YKzKxDt6zR9F2YgoEb9kpAAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://twitter.com/hashtag/CongressToolKit?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://twitter.com/hashtag/CongressToolKitExposed?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[7] https://t.co/3b7c2GN0re
[8] https://twitter.com/sambitswaraj/status/1394527032730660870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/26/india_social_media_takedown_orders/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/10/india_sms_blocking_mess/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/16/india_txt_scam_crackdown_spatial_liberalisation/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/09/india_internet_bans_kashmir_twitter/
[13] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/police-in-delhi-have-raided-twitters-indian-headquarters
[14] https://twitter.com/Raheelk/status/1396846919004086274
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/05/india_tech_vaccine/
[16] https://twitter.com/TwitterIndia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[17] https://t.co/aCBfjhb5CC
[18] https://twitter.com/AdityaRajKaul/status/1396846575318495237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[19] https://twitter.com/DelhiPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[20] https://twitter.com/TwitterIndia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[21] https://t.co/jgfWTMO2L2
[22] https://twitter.com/Raheelk/status/1396846399975743490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[23] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/26/india_social_media_takedown_orders/
[24] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/29/facebook_modi_india/
[25] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The tweet from Sambit Patra, who holds no elected office but is national spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), included what he claimed to be a document detailing the opposition Congress Party's plan to put political pressure on the government's response to a huge second wave of COVID-19 infections. Patra argued that the document demonstrates a too-cozy relationship between media and Congress.
India's non-profit fact checking website Alt News has [1]said the image accompanying Patra’s tweet is fake.
[2]
[3]
[4]
Here's the contentious Tweet.
Friends look at the [5]#CongressToolKit in extending help to the needy during the Pandemic!
More of a PR exercise with the help of “Friendly Journalists” & “Influencers” than a soulful endeavour.
Read for yourselves the agenda of the Congress: [6]#CongressToolKitExposed [7]pic.twitter.com/3b7c2GN0re — Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) [8]May 18, 2021
Officers from the Delhi Police Service’s Special Cell, a branch for investigating terrorism and organized crime, showed up at Twitter offices in Lado Sarai, Delhi and Gurugram with a notice requiring attendance to assist with investigations into the document Tweeted by Patra.
[9]India orders takedowns of social media posts it claims harm fight against raging COVID-19 outbreak
[10]India pauses blockchain-powered SMS spam-scrubber after it swallows people's one-time login codes
[11]Does a national Digital Intelligence Unit sound a bit sinister? India's new one will co-ordinate action on SMS scams
[12]India lifts 550-day Kashmir internet ban, tries to impose new Twitter ban
Just what Delhi police wanted Twitter to divulge is unclear. No evidence indicates Delhi's finest were following an order from India's government, nor is there any sign that Congress initiated the action. A source told [13]Buzzfeed India the police visit was a routine process following insufficient responses from Twitter India managing director Manish Maheshwari.
It is also unclear whether the police were able to access the building. Numerous [14]sources say Twitter India's employees are [15]working from home during India's current COVID crisis.
Delhi Police Special Cell team returns from Gurgaon after they find the Twitter India offices shut. Apparently there is work from home at [16]@TwitterIndia since March last year. Was this move by Government to send out a message? [17]pic.twitter.com/aCBfjhb5CC — Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) [18]May 24, 2021
The former head of news at Twitter India, Raheel Khursheed, has called the actions an intimidation tactic.
This would be funny if it wasn’t tragic. [19]@DelhiPolice knows that no data is physically stored at [20]@TwitterIndia offices hence purpose of raid is nothing but intimidation. [21]https://t.co/jgfWTMO2L2 — Raheel Khursheed (@Raheelk) [22]May 24, 2021
The ruling BJP has faced criticism for its response to India's second wave of COVID-19 infections, which has seen over 250,000 new daily infections for the last four weeks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attempted to clamp down on social media posts by critics and rival politicians with [23]claims some spread misinformation and cause panic.
Twitter has agreed with many of those claims, making challenged tweets inaccessible from India. But the service has also temporarily hidden posts containing the [24]#ResignModi hashtag. ®
Get our [25]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.altnews.in/covid-toolkit-attributed-to-congress-created-on-forged-letterhead/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YKzKxDt6zR9F2YgoEb9kpAAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YKzKxDt6zR9F2YgoEb9kpAAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YKzKxDt6zR9F2YgoEb9kpAAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://twitter.com/hashtag/CongressToolKit?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://twitter.com/hashtag/CongressToolKitExposed?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[7] https://t.co/3b7c2GN0re
[8] https://twitter.com/sambitswaraj/status/1394527032730660870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/26/india_social_media_takedown_orders/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/10/india_sms_blocking_mess/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/16/india_txt_scam_crackdown_spatial_liberalisation/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/09/india_internet_bans_kashmir_twitter/
[13] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/police-in-delhi-have-raided-twitters-indian-headquarters
[14] https://twitter.com/Raheelk/status/1396846919004086274
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/05/india_tech_vaccine/
[16] https://twitter.com/TwitterIndia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[17] https://t.co/aCBfjhb5CC
[18] https://twitter.com/AdityaRajKaul/status/1396846575318495237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[19] https://twitter.com/DelhiPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[20] https://twitter.com/TwitterIndia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[21] https://t.co/jgfWTMO2L2
[22] https://twitter.com/Raheelk/status/1396846399975743490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[23] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/26/india_social_media_takedown_orders/
[24] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/29/facebook_modi_india/
[25] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Totally Manipulated
oldtaku
Twitter is absolutely in the right here. Modi's government are complete lying sacks of shiat, and nearly everything they say is a lie (sometimes the BJP does accidentally tell the truth).
It's the same gameplan as with every other country run by a populist, racist, incompetent angry toddler. India, the US (last year), Brazil, the Philippines, Russia, Britain (now saved by aggressive vaccination), Belarus, Hungary, plus too many in Africa to list.
These governments spend more resources on crushing critics and media than fighting COVID-19 because they've already declared that COVID-19 is not a problem and we should all have our unmasked religious festivals where we all french kiss each other because God will protect us.
Narenda Modi is an aggressively evil, incompetent tyrant, and he's unleashed the full might of his normally useless, ass-kissing sycophants in the Indian government to crush any dissenters so hundreds of thousands of more Indians can die as long as he can cling to power.
Ah, the Streisand effect.
The more/harder you try to bury a thing on the internet, the more fun it will have proving that "Whack A Mole" is a game you'll never win.