Why the Indian Government is tackling Twitter posts rather than the pandemic

As India records record numbers of new Covid cases, the country’s government is moving to censor social media in a bid to prevent people from seeing the full picture.

Anger is growing throughout the nation, with one Twitter user saying authorities are “finding it easier to take down tweets than ensure oxygen supplies”.

A recent blocked post by an opposition government member says the people of India will “never forgive” Prime Minister Narenda Modi “for underplaying the corona situation in the country and letting so many people die due to mismanagement.”

India saw more than 352,000 new infections on Monday and over 2,800 deaths – the highest single-day spike so far.

It has been confirmed by Twitter that India’s government has made an emergency order to censor tweets.

Twitter has not specified which content it had taken down, but at least 52 tweets from prominent figures have been removed to date. They were published by a range of people including opposing politicians, journalists and filmmakers.

“When we receive a valid legal request, we review it under both the Twitter Rules and local law. If the content violates Twitter’s Rules, the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only.”

twitter/the washington post

Although these tweets are blocked in India, they still remain visible on the platform when viewed from other countries around the world.

To add to the panic, as case numbers continue to soar, health experts are worried that most are being undetected. This follows India’s test positivity rate has growing from 6 percent on April 1 to 20 percent by April 25.

Tedros Adhanom of the World Health Organisation says “the situation in India is beyond heartbreaking”, and the organisation is “doing everything it can” to help alleviate pressure on the health care system, and drive case numbers down.