‘Didn’t Violate Any Law’: BJP MP Challenges Twitter Over Notice

Varun Gandhi’s stand-off with Twitter comes amid a long-drawn conflict between the BJP & the social media platform.

File image of BJP leader Varun Gandhi.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Varun Gandhi)

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi on Thursday, 24 June, called upon Twitter to present the legal notice that the IT company has said it has received a request from "Indian Law Enforcement" against violations by the MP's account on the micro-blogging platform.

Gandhi's challenge to the IT company comes in light of an email that Twitter had allegedly sent to the MP, apprising him of certain content on his page on the platform that had violated certain Indian laws.

What Had Happened

Gandhi, on Thursday, took to Twitter to share the screenshot of an email that the parliamentarian had allegedly received from Twitter.

"In the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that Twitter has received a request from the Indian Law Enforcement regarding your Twitter account, @varungandhi80, that claims the following content violates the law(s) of India," the email from Twitter said, as per a screenshot shared by Gandhi.

“I am certain I have violated no law and that no law agency would have found anything offensive in my tweets. Twitter should clarify their basis for such correspondence. Shocked by their behaviour.”

Varun Gandhi

"Twitter advocates for free expression, but fails in deed," he added.

Gandhi also asserted that he has checked with the concerned legal bodies, who appear not to have sent any such notice to Twitter.

"I have put out these tweets after enquiring from all possible avenues connected with the Indian Law Enforcement within the government. If Twitter really has received a complaint regarding my content, then let it share the said legal notice & its provenance 'in the interest of transparency’," he said.

The BJP leader also accused Twitter of furthering its "woke propaganda" by bullying its users.

"For too long now, Twitter has indulged in online bullying of our citizens for their diversity of political views to make us conform with their "woke" propaganda. It should stay a platform, not an ostracizing tribunal. This harassment of Indians will not fly with the law of the land," Gandhi's tweet stated.

Gandhi's stand-off with Twitter comes amid the long-drawn conflict between the BJP and the micro-blogging platform.

Just this week, Twitter India Chief Manish Maheshwari had been called upon by the Uttar Pradesh Police over the allegations of the platform "provoking communal unrest" on the assault on a Muslim man in the state's Loni earlier in June.