Netizens Wonder If Twitter Will Be Banned In India After Union Minister Piyush Goyal Joined 'Koo'; Here's Why

Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal took to Twitter and wrote, “I am now on Koo”. With this announcement, several Twitter users wondered if the Indian government is mulling over a Twitter ban.

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New Delhi: Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal announced on Tuesday that he has joined microblogging platform ‘Koo’. This has led to some users speculating if the government is mulling over a ban on Twitter.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal took to Twitter and wrote, “I am now on Koo”. “Let us exchange our thoughts and ideas on Koo,” he added.

Apart from Goyal, Koo has other politicians’ accounts including the Minister of Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad and Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. There are various government ministries and departments on it, such as the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC), National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), India Post, MyGovIndia, Digital India, and National Informatics Centre (NIC), among others.

With this announcement, several Twitter users wondered if the Indian government is mulling over a ban on the popular microblogging platform in the light of tweets on farmers’ protest.

Recently, the union government launched a Twitter campaign ‘#IndiaAgainstPropaganda’ to counter the tweets by internationally known personalities like Rihanna, Greta Thunberg and Meena Harris.

Twitter has become a platform where a lot of debates and discussions over the farmers’ protests are taking place including criticism. In the light of R-Day violence, over 550 accounts engaged in spam and platform manipulation were suspended, as informed by a Twitter spokesperson.

Indian Govt & Twitter

According to reports citing sources, the Indian government directed Twitter to comply with its order to remove content and accounts related to farmer genocide hashtags and warned that the microblogging platform may face "penal action" for non-compliance of its order.

Recently withheld Twitter accounts included those of Kisan Ekta Morcha and BKU Ekta Urgahan, which were later allowed on the platform again.

In subsequent meetings with the government officials, Twitter contended that the accounts and tweets in question constitute “free speech” and are “newsworthy” and thereafter the tweets and accounts have been “unwithheld”.

Meanwhile, it was also noticed by many that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey liked Rihanna’s tweet over farmers’ protest where she had asked: “why aren’t we talking about this?!”

That tweet is believed to have brought more attention to the farmers’ movement outside India.

What Is Koo?

Koo is an Indian microblogging platform where people can post much and follow each other much like Twitter.

“Koo has been declared an AatmaNirbhar App and won the AatmaNirbhar App Innovation Challenge held by the Government of India in August 2020. PM Narendra Modi encourages Indians to use the Koo App in his Mann Ki Baat speech too. Follow interesting Indians from all walks of life on Koo. Many prominent personalities like Sadhguru, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, etc use Koo to express themselves every day,” the app description on Play Store reads.

The ‘Aatmanirbhar’ app is available on both Android and iOS and also supports a variety of Indian languages encouraging people to use it in their mother tongue.

(With Agency Inputs)