Twitter Okays Anil Vij’s ‘Destroy’ Tweet Post Disha Ravi’s Arrest

21-year-old Disha Ravi was sent to five-day police custody on Sunday.

File photo of Haryana minister Anil Vij

(Photo: The Quint)

Twitter, on Monday, 15 February, said that a tweet calling for the complete eradication of those with seeds of “anti-nationalism” in their minds by Haryana’s home minister Anil Vij was “not subject to removal” from the microblogging platform. Twitter also, according to screenshots shared by Vij, said that they had investigated the said tweet.

Two days after the arrest of 21-year-old activist Disha Ravi, Anil Vij had tweeted in Hindi:

“Whoever harbours the seeds of anti-nationalism in their mind, has to be destroyed from the roots, be it Disha Ravi or anyone else.”

Meanwhile, according to ANI, a complaint seeking registration of FIR against Haryana Minister Anil Vij for "his hateful statement calling for the killing of Disha Ravi on Twitter" has been filed in Bengaluru. The complaint has reportedly been received at DCP central, Bengaluru office.

What Did Twitter (Not) Do?

According to NDTV, Twitter had earlier issued a notice to the Haryana minister saying it had deleted the tweet based on a complaint from a user in Germany. The complaint was reportedly under Germany’s Network enforcement Act.

However, according to screenshots shared by Vij, later in the day, Twitter sent him a message saying:

“We have investigated the reported content and have found that it is not subject to removal under the Twitter rules.”   

The tweet in question is still clearly visible on his Twitter timeline.

Background

A 21-year-old climate activist, Disha Ravi, had come under the scanner in recent days over a toolkit on farmers’ protest that was shared by international climate activist Greta Thunberg, who said it could help the ongoing protest.

With certain pro-government Twitter handles and even Union ministers alleging that the toolkit was proof of a global conspiracy against India, the Delhi Police on 13 February arrested Ravi from Bengaluru on charges of "sharing and spreading" the toolkit.

The Delhi Police’s statement claimed that Ravi was a "co-conspirator" in the document's formulation and "in this process" collaborated with "pro-Khalistani Poetic Justice Foundation to spread disaffection against the Indian State.”

Breaking down in a Delhi court, before which she was produced on Sunday, Ravi denied being part of any conspiracy and said “I was just supporting farmers.” She added that she didn’t create the toolkit, and just made two edits to it.

Ravi was sent to five-day police custody on Sunday.