Centre tells Twitter to remove 'manipulated' tag from Sambit's Toolkit tweet; 'probe on'

A day after Twitter flagged BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra's tweet on Congress' alleged 'toolkit' as manipulated media, the Union Government has lodged a strong protest with the social media platform against its move. In a 'strong communication' to Twitter's global team, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has registered an objection to the use of 'manipulated media' tag on tweets made by Indian political leaders with reference to the 'toolkit'. The Union Ministry has asked Twitter to remove the 'manipulated Media' tags affixed to certain tweets in the interests of 'fairness and equity'.

The Union Ministry has highlighted to Twitter that a complaint has been made by one of the 'concerned parties' (the Congress party) before law enforcement agency questioning the veracity of the 'toolkit', stating that the matter remains under investigation. Issuing a stern response to Twitter's 'unilateral conclusion' of tagging Patra's toolkit as 'manipulated media' while the matter is still under investigation, the Centre said that such tagging by the global micro-blogging website appears 'pre-judged, prejudiced and a deliberate attempt to colour the investigation'. 

"The Ministry has termed such unilateral action by Twitter as an effort to influence the fair investigation process and a clear overreach, which is totally unwarranted... The action not only dilutes the credibility of Twitter as a neutral and unbiased platform facilitating exchange of views by the usres but also puts a question mark on the status of Twitter as intermediary," the Centre's statement on Friday reads. 

Congress writes to Twitter seeking ban on BJP netas' accounts

Incidentally, Twitter's action of flagging Sambit Patra's tweet came on the same day that Congress had written to the micro-blogging website seeking permanent suspension of the handles of BJP leaders including party president JP Nadda, MP Smriti Irani, Sambit Patra and others for allegedly creating unrest in the society by disseminating misinformation. In a letter to Twitter's Grievance office, Congress accused the above mentioned BJP leaders of indulging in a pre-planned conspiracy by spreading misinformation by sharing what they claim was a forged INC Research department letterhead with fabricated content in an attempt to create unrest in the society & escalate violence in parts of India. The grand-old party claimed that a complaint was lodged with the Delhi Police Commissioner against the BJP leaders for misusing and exploiting the Twitter platform. 

The tweet in contention by BJP's Sambit Patra pertains to the alleged toolkit, created by the Congress, to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress has filed an FIR in the matter. Congress national spokesperson Sunil Ahire had informed that an FIR has been filed by his party. The Congress spokesperson had said that BJP is propagating a fake 'toolkit' on 'COVID-19 mismanagement' and attributing it to AICC Research Department. "We are filing an FIR for forgery against JP Nadda and Sambit Patra," he added. 

Sambit Patra's 'toolkit' tweet flagged as 'Manipulated Media' by Twitter

'Toolkit' controversy

Addressing a press briefing on Tuesday, Sambit Patra shared the contents of a purported toolkit and slammed Congress' attempts to spread misinformation in the country. He covered sections such as 'Politicising and Allowing Super Spreader Kumbh', 'Questions on PM CARES', 'Special treatment of Gujarat', 'Choosing vanity over people's lives', 'Amplify work of frontal Congress organizations' and 'Prime Minister Modi's image'. The document also urges volunteers to use phrases such as 'Modi strain', ‘Missing’ Amit Shah, ‘Quarantined’ Jaishankar, ‘Sidelined’ Rajnath Singh, ‘Insensitive’ Nirmala Sitharaman. 

The Congress has alleged that BJP sought to divert the attention from the Centre's "mammoth failure" in providing relief to the people of India. Claiming that BJP forged the letterhead of the AICC Research Department and printed false content on the same, it demanded action against the BJP leaders under the relevant sections of the IPC and the IT Act. As per the Congress party's research department head, a document on the Central Vista project does exist, but doesn't carry the same pointers as the one posted by Patra. The veracity of the remainder of the internal research document remains unknown.