Twitter restricts 50 tweets featuring viral video of Muslim man in Ghaziabad being assaulted

Twitter has restricted around 50 tweets that contain videos and images of a Muslim man being assaulted in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad. Twitter's move came after legal demands from the Indian government, Medianama reported.

The tweets will be withheld for users in India. The information is based on a recent filing by Twitter with the Lumen Database, which collects and analyses legal complaints and requests for removal of online materials.

The Ghaziabad police had claimed that the assault had pertained to a personal dispute but had been portrayed in a communal manner on social media. The police had booked Twitter, Twitter India, Alt News journalist Mohammad Zubair, independent journalists Rana Ayub and Saba Naqvi, the Wire, and Congress leaders for “provoking communal sentiments.”

The assault took place on June 5 in Loni. A video that soon went viral, showed a man named Abdul Samad being beaten up by six men. They also used scissors to cut his beard. Two days later, Samad had alleged through a Facebook live that he had been abducted and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Vande Mataram.” However, the police had denied the communal angle.

Meanwhile, NDTV reported that Manish Maheshwari, managing director of Twitter India, told the UP police that he is available for questioning on video call. He was asked by the police last week to report to a police station at Loni border within seven days.

Maheshwari said that he “does not deal with the case directly.” Citing sources, the report claimed that the Ghaziabad police is “not satisfied” with the reply and may send another notice to Twitter.