Twitter, the micro-blogging platform which is emerging as a new democracy, is used by many of the politicians across the world and political spectrum. The platform has become a way to promote policies and interact with citizens and other officials, and most world leaders and foreign ministries have an official Twitter account. It has made several policies and implemented it to protect user safety and make it user-friendly but critics allege that the implementation of these policies are opaque and, sometimes, biased. Interestingly, the controversies on and around Twitter never cease to fascinate and amuse us: this apolitical platform, (pun intended) which even limits the reach of the most powerful man on Earth, Mr. Donald Trump, is again in the circle of questioning.
This time, in the month of September, controversy has erupted due to a rift between activist Yuvraj Pokharna and defenders of privacy of interfaith couples. According to law, an interfaith couple, marrying under the Special Marriage Act (SMA), is obliged to give their details in an application and these are available to public scrutiny for 30 days. Recently, Kerala government has also opened a portal where all these applications are accessible. Pokharna, an activist from diamond-city Surat, feels that “most of the brides are generally Hindu and grooms are Muslims in case of marriage under SMA.” He added, “This can’t be coincidence. There has to be a sinister plot.”
Pokharna is a social media geek and has verified accounts on Facebook along with Instagram. To spread awareness on the issue of what he calls as ‘Love-Jihad’, he uploaded several applications on Twitter as a series of tweets—often known as thread. This thread got around 6500 likes and 5500 retweets but attracted criticism regarding violation of privacy of interfaith couples. “Due to mass-reporting, my account was suspended,” Pokharna says furiously. “Twitter’s own policies state that private details like geographical locations, phone numbers, etc. can’t be shared without consent but also that elsewhere uploaded details can be shared. In my thread, no private details, including exact addresses and phone numbers, were shared. My suspension is arbitrary and goes against Twitter’s own policies. This is a blatant violation of the right of Freedom to Express as guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.”
Pokharna’s tweets on ‘Love-Jihad’ also attracted personal attacks and doxing of him. In 2019, he shot to overnight fame due to his Viral Rafale fact-sheet wedding card and got an appreciation letter from PM Narendra Modi. Several users uploaded that letter and publicized his residential address. “But those tweets weren’t taken down even as they were in clear violation of the platform’s policy,” he complains. He claims that his “wife and sister also got abused.”
Upon asking what he plans to do in future regarding his Twitter suspension, he says, “I am firm that I didn’t violate any Twitter policies. I would like to wait for their response before taking further actions. Till then, I will make my tens of thousand followers aware of Love-Jihad or any such social malice through my Instagram account.” He now tweets with @pokerfaceindian
