Twitter had blocked journalist Aarti Tikoo’s account three weeks back for raising threat concerns about her family.
In what is expected to bring about a sea change in how social media platforms operate in the country, Twitter Thursday (January 13) restored the account of journalist Aarti Tikoo.
On Tuesday (January 11), Delhi High Court had issued a notice to Twitter on the plea of Tikoo.
“Just two days after Delhi High Court issued notice against Twitter Inc. on my plea, it has accepted defeat. Twitter today restored my access to my account after having blocked it for three weeks”, Tikoo said in a statement.
It had also restored her tweet which it had labelled ‘hateful content’.
As reported by the Organiser on December 18, social media platform Twitter had restricted the account of Journalist Aarti Tikoo on December 17. Her account was restricted for posting a tweet which described how her brother, Sahil Tikoo, in Kashmir was threatened by Islamists and is facing a danger to his life.
Twitter had informed her that her account has been restricted for 12 hours as the particular tweet violated Twitter rules.
She had posted “My brother @TikooSahil_ who lives in Srinagar, is being openly threatened by jihadi terrorists sitting in Kashmir-India, their handlers in Pakistan, UK, US. Is anyone watching? Are we sitting ducks waiting to be shot dead by Islamists or will you crackdown on them? @HMOIndia.”
Tikoo said that after the first argument in the court, Twitter realised that it could cost them dearly not just in India but in many other countries.
Twitter has been arbitrarily blocking accounts, censoring content, not just in India but everywhere. Tikoo said that her larger fight with the tech platform will continue. “Twitter has abused its power by blocking, suspending and labelling far too many Indians and far too many times that this issue can be given up just because they have restored my account”, she said.
Senior advisor in the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Kanchan Gupta called this a “great precedent”.
“Great news! After @AartiTikoo takes @Twitter to court for locking her account for tweeting that her brother was facing death threats from #Islamist thugs, @paraga company promptly restores account, pleads case be withdrawn or closed. Well done, Aarti. This sets a great precedent”, Shri Gupta posted.
Aarti Tikoo is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of news portal The New Indian.
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