Govt objects to Twitter’s ‘manipulated’ tag for Patra

Hours after a BJP spokesperson’s tweets on an alleged Congress ‘toolkit’ on the Centre’s Covid-19 response were labelled as ‘manipulated media’, the government on Friday asked Twitter to remove the tag, saying the social media platform cannot pass judgment on a matter under investigation.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT wrote “a strong communication” to Twitter registering objection to the use of ‘manipulated media’ tag on certain tweets, sources said.

The communication referred to tweets by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra as one “made by Indian political leaders” and went on to state that they were in “reference to a toolkit created to undermine, derail and demean the efforts of the Government against Covid-19 pandemic.”

It asked the microblogging platform to remove the ‘manipulated media’ tag as the matter is pending investigation before law enforcement agency.

Sources said the government has also made it clear that the social media platform cannot pass judgment while the matter is under investigation.

The ‘manipulated media’ tagging appeared “prejudged, prejudiced” and a “deliberate attempt to colour the investigation” by local law enforcement agency and “influence fair investigation process”, sources said, quoting from the communication.

When contacted, a Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.

The sharp rebuke came after Twitter labelled as “manipulated media” a tweet by Patra on the alleged toolkit prepared by the Congress to target the Modi government on its handling of the Covid19 pandemic.

The government has asserted that investigation will determine the veracity of the content and not Twitter, and asked the microblogging platform not to interfere in the investigation process.