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Updated June 5th, 2021 at 10:40 IST

Twitter withdraws 'blue tick' from VP Venkaiah Naidu's account; restores it after backlash

While no clarification has been issued by Twitter, Vice President's Office has confirmed that the action has taken place on Venkaiah Naidu's personal account.

Reported by: Ananya Varma
Venkaiah Naidu, Twitter
Image- PTI/Twitter | Image:self
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In an arbitrary move, social media giant Twitter withdrew the blue verified badge from the Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu's Twitter account on Saturday. While no clarification has been issued by Twitter over his sudden move, the Vice President's Office has confirmed that the action has taken place on Venkaiah Naidu's personal Twitter handle. The Vice President's official handle @VPSecretariat continues to sport the blue badge while his verification from @MVenkaiahNaidu has been taken away.

When does Twitter remove a blue tick?

According to Twitter, it holds the sole power to remove the blue verified badge and verified status of a Twitter account at any time and without notice if an account changes its username (@handle), becomes inactive or incomplete, or if the owner of the account is no longer in the position for which they were initially verified and do not otherwise meet criteria for verification since leaving such position.

Twitter may also remove the blue verified badge if an account is found to be in severe or repeated violation of the Twitter Rules including impersonation or intentionally misleading people on Twitter or for reasons such as hateful conduct policy, abusive behavior, glorification of violence policy, civic integrity policy, private information policy, etc.

VP's blue badge taken away due to inactivity?

It is being speculated that the blue tick was taken away due to Vice President Naidu's inactivity on his personal Twitter account. "The personal account of Venkaiah Naidu was inactive for six months and the blue badge has gone," said an official from Vice President to news agency ANI. Venkaiah Naidu's last tweet on his personal account dates to July 23, 2020.

However, several netizens have raised objections to this sharing screenshots of how some handles that continue to have blue tick have also been inactive for over a year. BJP's official spokesperson from Mumbai Suresh Nakhua has labeled this sudden move as an 'assault' against the Constitution of India. 

As per the latest information, Twitter has restored the Vice President's blue tick hours after it withdrew it after facing massive backlash over the move on its platform.

Twitter seeks amendments in IT rules

This move comes amid Twitter's non-compliance with India's new IT Rules. While other social media giants such as Google, Facebook, and Youtube have avered compliance with the new IT rules, Twitter has so far been defiant and in turn, has sought certain amendments in the rules. This has prompted serious concerns.

"Twitter strives to comply with applicable law in India. We continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the Indian law." the company Spokesperson said in a statement.  

Meanwhile, the Centre has asserted that if the social media companies fail to comply with the new IT rules, then they will be liable to losing their status and protection as Intermediaries. Additionally, they may also face criminal action as per the existing laws of India. 

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Published June 5th, 2021 at 09:36 IST

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