In the ongoing ‘manipulated media’ controversy, another development came forth with tweets by 5 BJP Politicians labelled as manipulated media by microblogging platform Twitter on Friday. The development came just hours after BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra’s tweet on the alleged ‘Congress toolkit’ was flagged by Twitter.
Background
Social media platform Twitter is no stranger to controversy. A few months ago, Twitter was under the flak for banning several hundred handles that were standing in solidarity with the farmers during the farmers protest and were amplifying certain aspects on the issue. Similarly, the account is now under the scrutiny of the Centre after it labelled certain tweets from the BJP party members as Manipulated Media.
Also read: Twitter restores 250 accounts including The Caravan, Kisan Ekta Morcha after localized blackout
Details
On Friday, tweets by MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, BJP social media in-charge Priti Gandhi, BJP social media co-in-charge Sunil Deodhar, BJP media panel personnel Charu Pragya and BJP Delhi General Secretary Kuljeet Singh Chahal were labeled manipulated media by Twitter.
What started the “Manipulated Media” Controversy?
It all started on Thursday this week when a tweet by BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra was labelled manipulated media. Patra’s tweet had the alleged ‘Congress toolkit’ which was made to use to discredit PM Modi on his COVID-19 management.
In his post, Patra had said: “Friends look at the #CongressToolKit in extending help to the needy during the Pandemic! More of a PR exercise with the help of “Friendly Journalists” & “Influencers” than a soulful endeavour. Read for yourselves the agenda of the Congress: #CongressToolKitExposed.”
Friends look at the #CongressToolKit in extending help to the needy during the Pandemic!
More of a PR exercise with the help of “Friendly Journalists” & “Influencers” than a soulful endeavour.
Read for yourselves the agenda of the Congress:#CongressToolKitExposed pic.twitter.com/3b7c2GN0re— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) May 18, 2021
What was the alleged Congress Toolkit?
The toolkit, a document that lays down a roadmap, looked to have been made on a Congress letterhead. Further, the toolkit revealed a plan against PM Modi and Centre over its mismanagement of COVID-19. The document also talked about how Modi’s image and how the “approval ratings of Prime Minister Modi have been high and have not dipped despite crisis and mismanagement”.
Several BJP leaders such as J.P. Nadda, Smriti Irani and other senior officials retweeted or posted the toolkit with the hashtag ‘CongressToolKitExposed’.
It should be noted that this was not the first time that Patra’s tweet was categorized as manipulated. Earlier on January 30, he had tweeted a video of Delhi CM who was “supporting” the much-debated farm laws. Twitter came down hard on this as it concluded that the video was doctored and edited. After a few days later, Patra deleted the video.
Indian govt stand on Twitter’s decision; Congress’ response
After Twitter’s intervention, Indian government’s IT and Electronics agency MeitY wrote a letter to Twitter and objected to its decision to label the tweet as manipulated and called the move ‘prejudiced’, ‘prejudged’ and ‘arbitrary’. The letter also stated that while the matter is under investigation by law enforcement agency, Twitter ended up taking the decision before the investigation concluded. Meanwhile, Congress claimed that the Twitter’s decision had ‘vindicated’ the party and the alleged ‘toolkit’ was a fraud by the ruling party BJP.
What is BJP saying?
BJP on the other side were reported to have made an argument that Twitter cannot be a player as its just a platform. According to an Indian Express report, a senior leader was quoted saying, “The Congress has complained, and the investigation is on. The BJP has given evidence — technical and circumstantial — to prove the Congress’s role.”
What is Twitter’s Manipulated Media Policy?
In order to separate the fact from the fiction, Twitter introduced the policy in February 2020. Although not much is known about what goes under the hood, Twitter states, that, “in order for content to be labeled or removed under this policy, we must have reason to believe that media, or the context in which media are presented, are significantly and deceptively altered or manipulated.”
In its Help Center, Twitter provides certain parameters on which it decides whether a Tweet is manipulated or not. These factors include whether the content is edited in a way that fundamentally changes its sequence, timing or framing. It also includes overdubbed audio in videos, changed subtitles and edited video frames that are added or removed in videos. Lastly, it also looks down on media whether it is presenting a real person in a fabricated way or not.
It should be noted that earlier last year, several tweets by the former US President Donald Trump were labeled as manipulated media. Later, Trump was banned from Twitter permanently after he repeatedly violated the rules of the platform.
Also Read: Trump Banned By Twitter Permanently; Here Are All The Details About Twitter’s Move
