Twitter hid several tweets deemed critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic at the request of the Indian government.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology confirmed its order on Sunday, saying it asked Twitter, Facebook, and other social media channels to take down about 100 posts.
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In a statement to CNN, the agency accused users who made the targeted posts of creating a “panic” in an attempt “to spread fake or misleading information.”
The Indian government requested the removal of posts that urged citizens not to wear masks or take precautions as well as tweets that were critical of Modi, who has come under pressure for a spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country.
One of the tweets included on the list was a post by Moloy Ghatak, an opposition party leader in the state of West Bengal, which called for Modi’s removal.
“India will never forgive PM @narendramodi for underplaying the corona situation in the country and letting so many people die due to mismanagement. At a time when India is going through a health crisis,PM chose to export millions of vaccine to other nations,” Ghatak said on April 20, adding a hashtag in Hindi that translates to “Remove Modi, save the country.”
India will never forgive PM @narendramodi for underplaying the corona situation in the country and letting so many people die due to mismanagement.
At a time when India is going through a health crisis,PM chose to export millions of vaccine to other nations #ModiHataoDeshBachao pic.twitter.com/5sQRfT7kpB— Moloy Ghatak (@GhatakMoloy) April 20, 2021
Two days after her tweet, Ghatak sent another tweet with a news video of the pandemic’s effect on India. She added, “While the PM of our country is busy doing politics the nation is burning,” along with the hashtag #WeCantBreathe.
Twitter has notified users of their actions taken in response to India’s request. Its hidden content, however, is still visible for users outside of India’s borders.
“When we receive a valid legal request, we review it under both the Twitter Rules and local law,” a Twitter spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “If the content violates Twitter’s Rules, the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only. In all cases, we notify the account holder directly so they’re aware that we’ve received a legal order pertaining to the account.”
On Monday, India set a world record for the fifth consecutive day, reporting 352,991 new cases. The Southeast Asian nation has exceeded 17 million COVID-19 cases total, and over 195,000 deaths have been attributed to the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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India is the second-hardest hit country by the coronavirus in the world behind the United States, which has had over 32 million cases and more than 570,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
