What will cyber warriors do?: Sena says PM quitting social media would 'orphan' followers

On Tuesday, Shiv Sena took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of his intention to quit social media. Mentioning that the PM has crores of followers, Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut contended that his followers would be orphaned if he decided to exit social media. Terming them as “cyber warriors”, he recalled former BJP president Amit Shah’s assertion that BJP wins an election whenever the "cyber warriors" step up to the task. Maintaining that the job of the “cyber warriors” was clear, he said that social media was often misused to incite riots and spread fake news.  

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Sanjay Raut remarked, “Narendra Modiji has crores of followers in India and the rest of the world. If Narendra Modiji leaves social media, his followers will be orphaned. This is not right as they are his cyber warriors. A warrior operates on the instructions of the Commander. If the Commander leaves the social media battleground, then what will the Army do? I have heard that Amit Shahji said that BJP wins the election when our cyber warrior enters the battlefield. Everyone knows what the job of cyber warriors is.” 

He added, “But there is misuse of social media happening as well. We were forced to frame a law as social media is being used to spread fake news, rumours, incite riots. I do not know why Modiji has taken this decision. I have heard him through social media. Many times, good things are said. At times, there is political talk. It is his personal decision. But I will only say this- many people have been orphaned.” 

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PM Modi to quit social media? 

On Monday evening, PM Modi declared that he intends to give up his accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Moreover, he stated that he would share more information about this soon. This evoked a series of reactions, especially from the members of BJP. For instance, party spokesperson Nupur Sharma urged the PM to reconsider his decision. 

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