Twitter accounts suspension: Prakash Javadekar denies government role

A segment of Zee News editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary’s interview with information and broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar about “spread of fake news by some journalists” was published online by the channel on Monday.

In the segment, Chaudhary asked Javadekar about his reaction to mass withholding of Twitter accounts that occurred on the same day.

In response, Javadekar claimed that the move had been taken by Twitter. “This is something that has been done by the company, the government has not shut those accounts down,”he said.

Laughing, he added, “Among those who got their accounts withheld was the CEO of Prasar Bharati and when the mistake was brought to light his account was restored.”

He further said during the interview, “What I don't understand is that the Editors Guild and all other journalist organizations have the right to fight any case that they want but how can they blame the government for a case that it has not even filed? Someone went to court and then the notice was issued.”

This comes after news reports attributed the suspension to an order from the government to Twitter. According to the news agency ANI, the union ministry of electronics and information technology had directed Twitter to block about 250 tweets and Twitter accounts for using "Modi Planning Farmer Genocide" hashtag and allegedly making fake, intimidatory and provocative posts on January 30.