The fifth installment of ‘Twitter Files‘ by Bari Weiss revealed a culture of intolerance disguised as concern for public safety and propriety at Twitter that eventually led to the de-platforming of President Donald Trump.
The
details were covered in Andrea
Widburg’s excellent article.
However,
in citing examples of global ‘tyrants’ that still remain on Twitter, Weiss
erred in her claim about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1602372171845599232
The basis
of the claim was an
article in the NYT, from last February which falsely claimed
that Twitter was compelled to permanently block numerous accounts for making
‘inflammatory remarks’ about PM Modi after the Indian government issued a
notice of noncompliance that could send Twitter’s Indian employees up to
seven years in jail.
So let’s
revisit the facts.
It
started with the Indian government passing three
new farm laws that proposed much-required reforms to the Indian farming
sector.
However, the passage of
these laws did causes concern among farmers, who prefer the old system.
The left
and myriad other nefarious forces leaped in and inflamed the situation by
spreading misinformation.
Finally, the farmers
began a protest by blockading a highway that led to India’s capital,
Delhi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG8_Dw6eDDg
In parallel representatives of the protesting farmers were negotiating with the government.
There were rumors that Soros was funding the troublemakers.
Juvenile ‘Activist’ Greta Thunberg supported the
protests. Thunberg accidentally tweeted a toolkit that revealed a campaign to spread chaos and instability
across India using the protests. Also supporting the protest
were Meena Harris, niece of US vice-president Kamala Harris, Rep Ilhan
Omar, Rihanna, Susan
Sarandon, Trevor
Noah, John
Cusack, etc.
Some protesters resorted
to violence, resulting in clashes with the police. These incidences were
intermittent.
The chaos reached its
peak on January 26th, 2021, which is celebrated as
Republic Day in India, it was the day in 1950 that the Indian constitution was
ratified.
To
celebrate Republic Day the Indian flag is hoisted at the Red Fort,
one of the foremost Indian moments in the capital of India, Delhi. There is
also a parade of the armed forces and a cultural pageant to display the
diverse cultures across India.
Various violent 'protestors' organized a ‘tractor protest’.
The protestor broke barriers despite tight security and broke into the Red Fort and hoisted
two foreign flags at the top. This was a desecration
of the monument and a symbolic attack on the Indian state. There were also
reports of violence in Delhi on the day, causing injury to the
police and citizens.
A significant number of
Twitter accounts and hashtags were used to spread misinformation. Some accounts
claimed a protestor was shot dead by the police, despite his death being accidental. Liberal
elements in Indian media picked up this claim and amplified it.
On January 30th,
2021, a hashtag emerged that accused the Indian government of planning a
genocide of the farmers.
This was a preposterous
but grave claim that could have inflamed an already tense situation. The
Government of India (GoI)
immediately dispatched a notice to Twitter urging them to block accounts and
remove tweets that pushed this spurious claim.
The GoI reminded Twitter
that their requests were according to Indian
laws under Section
69A of the Information Technology Act that Twitter is obligated to follow.
On February 10,
2021, Twitter blocked
a few of the accounts requested but eventually
restored many of these accounts.
On February 11, the GoI
served another notice to Twitter reminding employees that
non-compliance with Section 69A of the IT Act could result in
imprisonment of up to seven
years and fines.
Twitter claimed that
these GoI orders were not inconsistent with Indian laws and refused to take
down the trouble-making accounts.
During a meeting with
Twitter executives, the Indian government made it clear that the use of the
inflammatory hashtag did not fall under journalistic freedom or free speech,
since it was an emergency situation.
This was followed by a
prolonged back-and-forth between Twitter and the GoI. Finally, on June 27, 2022, almost
six months later the GoI first notice, Twitter blocked the requested accounts per the notices sent
by the GoI.
A week later
Twitter approached a State High Court challenging the GoI’s
orders. The matter is still being debated in court.
Last November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted
the demands of the protesting farmer and repealed the three farm laws. He conceded
his inability to convince a section of farmers despite his best efforts.
Back to Bari Weiss.
Clearly, both of her claims
about Prime Minister Modi are false.
The GoI did not threaten
to arrest Twitter employees in India and to incarcerate them for up to seven
years for being critical of Modi.
But instead sent a series
of notices to Twitter urging them to block accounts that were spreading a false
claim that PM Modi was planning a genocide of the protesting farmers.
Weiss’s claim ignores the
fact that there were a series of exchanges between Twitter and the GoI where
Twitter refused to follow the Indian laws, despite the grave situation at the protest
sites.
There were no ‘threats of
arrest’ instead the GoI reminded Twitter India of the results of violating the
specific law. Anyone in violation of the law in question would face similar
consequences.
Weiss made it appear that
the threats of arrest were vindictive, random, and baseless.
Her sweeping question on
why PM Modi was not de-platformed was also baseless PM Modi was not
directly involved in any of the exchanges with Twitter and neither has he ever
tweeted anything that could be regarded as incitement of violence.
Weiss’s implicit
comparison of Modi with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, former Malaysian prime
minister Mahathir Mohamad, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and President
of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari all of whom openly called for violence against a
group of people is gravely unfair.
https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1602370518585221120
https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1602370784332156928
https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1602371899723431937
https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1602371607975972864
Hopefully, she will issue an apology and a retraction.
Perhaps Musk himself will intervene if she fails.
In the end, Weiss’s Tweet
thread exposing the internal corruption in the former Twitter regime is of
monumental importance. It is hence quite essential that she gets every detail
in her right.
Using a debunked NYT
article to build a narrative against the corruption of the former Twitter
regime is unnecessary because there is plenty of factual evidence to support that claim.
Weiss's claim
is also defamatory.
Most
people who are unaware of the facts will glance at the Tweet and presume that
India is a totalitarian state where no criticism of the PM is permitted. When
the truth is India's Twitter is replete with Tweets mocking, attacking, and
ridiculing the PM. The fact that the farm laws were repealed is evidence that the government listens to protestors.
It is also counterproductive because Prime Minister Modi was as much a victim of NYT misinformation as President Trump.
Also appears on American Thinker
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