advertisement
On 13 February, Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha tweeted out a video where he altered the text on an open Google document shared by the BJP IT Cell on WhatsApp. The document contained ‘copy-paste’ instructions for the IT cell members and party members alike on various schemes introduced by the government.
BJP workers, leaders and even Union Ministers simply copy-paste from these documents at a certain predetermined times and help the party’s position trend on Twitter. And this is possibly why these accounts are then ‘shadow banned’ on Twitter, Sinha told The Quint.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary committee on Information Technology, chaired by BJP MP Anurag Thakur has summoned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on 25 February amidst allegations of a 'pro-left' bias on the platform.
How did the allegations come to be? Well, Twitter suspended several right-wing accounts, which sparked off protests among the section – both online and offline. The protests culminated with a volunteer group writing to the committee, asking for an inquiry into the platform's supposed bias against right-wing Twitter accounts.
But where is the data to support this claim, questions Sinha. Sinha is among those who reported the right-wing accounts which were suspended by Twitter.
Speaking about whether or not the government is justified in calling Dorsey to appear before it, Sinha opined that the platform is plaguing with many other issues that need to be addressed, rather than the "suspensions of a couple of handles."
As for misinformation on the platform, it is another ball game altogether, says Sinha.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)