BJP turned free bird Twitter into a singing canary acting on government directions: Congress leader

Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill on Friday said that by allegedly locking nearly 5,000 Twitter accounts, including those of several senior party leaders, the Bharatiya Janata Party has turned the free bird of Twitter into a singing canary which will now act as per government directions.

"Twitter has two policies: One for the government and one for the opposition. The question, which needs to be answered is why the accounts of those BJP leaders who tweeted similar photos or videos in the past (of Delhi rape victim's family) are not blocked. It is a sad day that the BJP seems to be getting successful in transforming the free bird of Twitter into a singing canary. It's like a parrot, which would only speak and act as the BJP directs them," Shergill toldhere.

The Congress leader also alleged that BJP earlier used social media platforms to spread propaganda and hate. "Now they seem to be on a mission to hijack, control, social media platforms to kill freedom of speech and expression of the opposition leaders," he said.

Social media site Twitter, on Thursday, blocked the official account of the Indian National Congress for 'violation of rules'. This comes a day after the microblogging platform had temporarily suspended party leader Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account.

Congress' social media head Rohan Gupta claimed that Twitter has blocked over 5,000 accounts of leaders and workers of the Congress.

Raising questions about the microblogging site's action, Gupta said, "Twitter has blocked its account for violation of rules. Twitter is acting under the government's pressure. If it is a violation of Twitter policy, then why the photo of the (victim's) family was there on the Scheduled Caste (SC) commission handle from August 2 to August 5."

Days after Twitter blocked his account and that of several other party leaders, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that the microblogging site is a "biased platform" and follows the government's directions.

In a video statement, the Congress leader questioned if India would let a company define the politics of the country.

( With inputs from ANI )