Karachi
An investigation carried out by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has revealed that micro-blogging website Twitter blocked a million tweets about Kashmir at the request of the Indian government.
According to a report published by the CPJ, Twitter blocked hundreds of thousands of tweets in India since August of 2017. The tweets that were blocked had their content focused on Kashmir.
Through its investigation, the CPJ found 53 letters sent by the Indian government to the social media website seeking blockage of 400 accounts. Around 45 percent of those accounts had Kashmir in their bio or username, or had tweeted recently about Kashmir.
Thirteen of these requests were sent around the time of the 2019 Indian general election by the Indian election commission while the rest were sent by the Indian Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology.
In August, nine legal requests about 20 accounts were made during the communications blackout in occupied Kashmir.
Moreover, 93 of the 400 accounts were withheld in India in the month of September and October. Around 90 percent of these accounts were from the group that specified Kashmir, with a total of 920,000 tweets between them.
The requests made to Twitter by the Indian government were made under an act that authorises the government to direct third-party entities like Twitter to block or remove online content on the basis of security and public order.
Twitter’s acceptance of these requests has increased since mid-2017, with Twitter blocking 131 accounts from mid-2017 to December 2018.
An investigation carried out by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has revealed that micro-blogging website Twitter blocked a million tweets about Kashmir at the request of the Indian government.
According to a report published by the CPJ, Twitter blocked hundreds of thousands of tweets in India since August of 2017. The tweets that were blocked had their content focused on Kashmir.
Through its investigation, the CPJ found 53 letters sent by the Indian government to the social media website seeking blockage of 400 accounts. Around 45 percent of those accounts had Kashmir in their bio or username, or had tweeted recently about Kashmir.
Thirteen of these requests were sent around the time of the 2019 Indian general election by the Indian election commission while the rest were sent by the Indian Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology.
In August, nine legal requests about 20 accounts were made during the communications blackout in occupied Kashmir.
Moreover, 93 of the 400 accounts were withheld in India in the month of September and October. Around 90 percent of these accounts were from the group that specified Kashmir, with a total of 920,000 tweets between them.
The requests made to Twitter by the Indian government were made under an act that authorises the government to direct third-party entities like Twitter to block or remove online content on the basis of security and public order.
Twitter’s acceptance of these requests has increased since mid-2017, with Twitter blocking 131 accounts from mid-2017 to December 2018.