Microblogging site Twitter has removed India’s map from its website after it faced growing outrage for showing Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as a separate country. The development evoked angry reactions with BJP leaders calling for action against the social media giant.
The incorrect map of India was detected by users on Twitter’s career page. No sooner did users share the map, hashtag #TwitterBan began to trend with calls for action against the microblogging site gaining momentum.
BJP leader P Muralidhar Rao tweeted, “Twitter is confirming by its actions the apprehensions expressed widely in the last few months about its bias towards Indian interests and sensitivities. Twitter’s mischievous representation of Indian Map is strongly condemned. Twitter has to follow law of land..!”
Twitter is confirming by its actions the apprehensions expressed widely in last few months about its bias towards Indian interests & sensitivities.
Twitter’s mischeavious representation of Indian Map is strongly condemned. @Twitter has to follow law of land..!
— P Muralidhar Rao (@PMuralidharRao) June 28, 2021
Faced with growing outrage, Twitter removed the controversial India’s map from its website. Displaying a distorted map of India is a serious crime and Twitter officials could face financial penalty or jail sentences or both if the Indian law enforcement agencies decide to initiate action against them.
Twitter has been engaged in a bitter fight with the Indian government over its failure to comply with the new IT rules. The Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also angry with Twitter for its decision to mark tweets posted by several BJP leaders including Sambit Patra as ‘manipulated media.’ Those tweets were originally posted to attack the Congress party for allegedly trying to hurt Modi’s image globally during the pandemic.
The Delhi Police had even raided Twitter offices in India’s national capital only to return disappointed since those premises were closed during the lockdown.
