‘Account doesn't exist’: ANI, NDTV’s official Twitter handles blocked

One of India’s prominent news agencies, ANI’s Twitter account was suspended on Saturday, for “violation of the minimum age restriction”, the social media platform informed the company in an official mail.    

The Twitter account of NDTV was also suspended, however, the reason for the same is not known yet. The official handles of both the news companies showed that the accounts didn't exist. 

In its mail to ANI, the microblogging platform led by Elon Musk said: “In order to create a Twitter account, you must be at least 13 years old. Twitter has determined that you don't meet these age requirements, so your account has been locked and will be removed from Twitter."

ANI editor Smita Prakash spotlighted the glitch on her personal Twitter handle. “Our gold tick was taken away, substituted with blue tick and now locked out.”

ANI has a presence in more than 100 bureaus located across India, South Asia, and other parts of the world, according to its website. Meanwhile, NDTV's official Twitter account was one of India’s most-followed English news handles on the platform, the company claimed, requesting Twitter to "help restore it".  

The glitch amassed criticism from several public figures, politicians and journalists. Some even speculated if it was a consequence of an error made by the pages' admin.