Anurag Thakur Slams Twitter’s Dorsey Over ‘Threats’ Claims, Says Foreign Forces Wake Up When Elections…

As Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey made some sensational allegations against the Indian government, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday refuted the claims and said that foreign forces get active to “vitiate the democratic process and build tension” in the country as elections approach. The BJP leader’s reaction came after Dorsey claimed that the Narendra Modi-led Indian government threatened to shut down the micro-blogging platform unless it complied with orders to restrict accounts during farmers’ protest.

Thakur said the “false” claims made by Dorsey were an attempt to cover up past misdeeds and Twitter’s internal communications had exposed that the platform was “misused and there was bias and tinkering”.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Thakur said, “What was said, is a blatant lie. Jack Dorsey woke up after years of sleep and wants to cover up his misdeeds. When Twitter was bought by another person, it was revealed in ‘Twitter Files’ how was the platform being misused. Jack Dorsey has not been able to answer this to date because he was exposed. Several foreign forces wake up when elections approach India.”

Stepping up attack on “foreign powers”, the BJP leader told reporters, “Such elements within the country and abroad will never be able to destabilise the nation which is being led by a strong leader.”

What Jack Dorsey Has Claimed?

Dorsey, who quit as Twitter CEO in 2021, claimed in an interview Indian government “pressured” the company with threats of a shutdown and raids on employees if it did not comply with requests to take down posts and restrict accounts, a charge rubbished by the government.

He made the allegation in an interview with the YouTube news show Breaking Points on Monday. “It manifested in ways such as: ‘We will shut Twitter down in India’, which is a very large market for us; ‘we will raid the homes of your employees’, which they did; And this is India, a democratic country,” he said talking about pressures Twitter faced from the Indian government when he was the CEO.

How Opposition Reacted?

A political row triggered after Dorsey’s claim as the Opposition accused the Centre of “suppressing” social media. However, Union Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar has dismissed Dorsey’s claims and called it an “outright lie”.

Citing Dorsey’s remarks, the Congress said the government should stop “suppressing” social media and journalists and demanded answers from the Modi government over the issue. The Opposition party alleged that there cannot be a bigger proof of the “weakening of democracy” in the country by targeting institutions.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the political progeny of the BJP-RSS who stood against Indians and fought in favour of the British in the freedom movement, should not pretend to be nationalists over former Twitter CEO’s remarks.

“BJP leads in embarrassing the country…. We will continue to foil BJP’s conspiracy to end democracy in the country,” Kharge said in a tweet in Hindi.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi alleged that the BJP and the government tried to “crush” the farmers protest.

“They tried to defame the movement. They called farmers terrorists. They called farmers anti-national. They lathi-charged the farmers. They let farmers die. They tried to silence the opposition in Parliament. They tried to arm twist social media platforms to mute the voices of those supporting the farmers…but despite their might, despite their power, the farmers humbled their arrogance and forced the government to withdraw the farmers act. Indian democracy or rule of Modiocracy?” she said.

What is ‘Twitter files’?

After taking over Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk had in December last year released ‘Twitter files’, controversial internal communications under the previous leadership on how it handled matters related to suspension and banning of accounts. Thakur said the government will ensure that provisions of Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution are not violated, stressing that the law treats everyone as equal.

(with inputs from PTI)