Saina Nehwal gets heartfelt message from ardent fan fearing permanent Twitter ban in India

Having had a tough year so far, Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will be pleased to see the backing she still receives from her fans - in particular, one fan on Twitter. After early exits from the Yonex Thailand Open (second round) in January and Toyota Thailand Open (first round), the Saina Nehwal injury meant that the star ended up withdrawing from her All-England Championships Round 1 match against Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt on her 31st birthday. 

Trailing 8-21, 4-10, Nehwal took the tough call to pull out of the prestigious event and bring yet another tournament to an early end in 2021. However, this decision may have cost the 2012 Olympics Bronze medallist a place with the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics later this year. With the Singapore Open and Malaysian Open, the last two series that count towards players' points for the Olympics, denying Indian shuttlers' access, Nehwal will not be joining PV Sindhu at the women's singles in Tokyo.

Potential Twitter ban in India prompts fan to write to Saina Nehwal

A staunch Saina Nehwal fan has made sure to tell his idol just how great she is, as fears grow that social media sites like Twitter may soon be banned from the country. User Anshul, took to the micro-blogging site to write a heartfelt message to Nehwal, saying that he thought she was a "true rockstar". While Nehwal has not replied to the comment personally yet, she did like the comment and it would warm her heart to know of the love her fans still have for her despite her failure to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. 

Saina Nehwal biopic

The Saina Nehwal biopic released in theatres on March 26 and received a digital release on Amazon Prime Video on April 23, 2021. The film stars Parineeti Chopra as the title character, Saina Nehwal, Manav Kaul as Pullela Gopichand, Eshan Naqvi as Parupalli Kashyap, Meghna Malik as Usha Rani Nehwal in pivotal roles. Subhrajyoti Barat, Ankur Vikal, Tawhid Rike Zaman, Sharman Dey and Sameer Bassi also feature in supporting roles.

Twitter ban in India

In February 2021, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology had given a three-month notice period to the social media platforms to comply with the new IT rules. The somewhat controversial new guidelines have been released to make larger online platforms more responsible and accountable for the content they allow users to share. Under the new rules, the platforms will be required to disclose the first originator of a tweet or message if ordered to do so by the government of India.

The government has also ordered that these platforms would be bound under the law to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours. Apart from this, each company has to set up a complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country to resolve the matter. If the social media companies fail to comply with the new rules, they will lose their status and protections as intermediaries and criminal action can be taken against them as per the laws of India. With the deadline for the compliances having passed, and neither company ready to sign, there is a possibility that the Indian government may ban platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and even Whatsapp. 

Image Credits: AP