Twitter Under Fire After Jammu-Kashmir Displayed As China Territory; Netizens Urge Ravi Shankar Prasad To Take Action

Reacting to the incident, Twitter spokesperson on Monday said that the teams have worked swiftly to investigate and resolve the concerned geotag issue.

Photo/AFP

A heated controversy has erupted after Twitter India displayed Jammu and Kashmir as part of Peoples Republic of China in the timelines on Sunday, October 18. The matter came to light when author and national security analyst Nitin Gokhale started a live broadcast on the microblogging platform from the Hall of Fame. The location tag displayed in the video showed Jammu-Kashmir as part of People’s Republic of China. Taking to his official Twitter account, Gokhale said, "Twitter folks, I just did a live from Hall of Fame. Giving Hall of Fame as the location and guess what it is saying Jammu and Kashmir, People's Republic of China! Are you guys nuts."

Observer Research Foundation (ORF) chairman Kanchan Gupta also noticed the location and raised the issue. Tagging Twitter and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in his post, Gupta said, "So @Twitter has decided to reconfigure geography and declare Jammu & Kashmir as part of People's Republic of #China . If this is not a violation of #India laws, what is? Citizens of India have been punished for far less. But US Big Tech is above the law?"

Reacting over a recent faux pas, Twitter spokesperson on Monday said that the teams have worked swiftly to investigate and resolve the concerned geotag issue. News agency ANI quoted the spokesperson saying, "We became aware of this technical issue on Sunday, and understand and respect the sensitivities around it. Teams have worked swiftly to investigate and resolve the concerned geotag issue."

Meanwhile, several netizens urged Ravi Shankar Prasad to quickly take action against Twitter India. The incident has come at the the time when India and China are engaged in a border dispute along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh for the past few months now. While the two neighbours are making efforts to reach to a peaceful negotiation, India is also preparing to strengthen its arms and forces on all fronts to prove confidence over the Dragon country.