Foreign powers active to destabilise, defame India: Anurag Thakur's attack on Jack Dorsey

The union minister for information & broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, has slammed Twitter's former CEO Jack Dorsey for the statement that Indian authorities asked the social media platform to restrict accounts reporting farmers' demonstrations and those critical of the government. The Narendra Modi government minister said that Dorsey is lying and that foreign powers are attempting to 'destabilise and defame the country' as elections approach. (ALSO READ: Centre dismisses Jack Dorsey’s claims of Twitter shutdown over farmer protests)

“India is the largest and most transparent democracy in the world. Whenever elections are near India, some foreign powers and their agents here get active in a planned way to destabilise and defame the country."

He continued, "Jack Dorsey is telling a white lie. Why hasn't he responded till today on the revelations about his bias, flirting and maliciousness regarding the Twitter files on Twitter's takeover?”

ALSO READ | ‘Not surprising’: BJP vs Congress Twitter war over Jack Dorsey's ‘sensational’ claims

What Jack Dorsey has said?

In a widely shared short clip, part of an interview with YouTube channel Breaking Points, Twitter co-founder, who left the company in November 2021, was asked if he had faced any pressure from foreign governments.

Dorsey replied, “India for example, India is one of the countries which had many requests around farmers protests, around particular journalists which were critical of the government, and it manifested in ways such as ‘we will shut Twitter down in India’… ‘we would raid the homes of your employees', which they did; ‘we will shut down your offices if you don't follow suit’. And this is India, a democratic country."

ALSO READ: 'Correct...': Farmer leader Tikait backs Dorsey's claim govt warned it will 'shutdown Twitter'

Congress slams government over Dorsey's 'alarming' allegations

The opposition party Congress has come heavy on the government declaring Dorsey's allegations ‘alarming and shocking for all’. Congress senior leader KC Venugopal said, “Entire government machinery is pressurising Twitter CEO to suppress and shut the opposition's voice.”

"That is why they banned Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account. Where is the freedom of expression, freedom of media?... Not only in Parliament, but we will also raise this issue throughout the country," he added.

Thakur went on to accuse Dorsey of covering up the charges revealed in ‘Twitter Files,' saying, "What was said, is a blatant lie. Jack Dorsey woke up after years of sleep and wants to cover up his misdeeds. When Twitter was bought by another person, it was revealed in 'Twitter Files' how was the platform being misused. Jack Dorsey has not been able to answer this to date because he was exposed"

ALSO READ: 'No reason for Jack Dorsey to lie but every reason for...', says ex-IT minister Kapil Sibal

'Jack Dorsey wants to cover up Twitter Files' misdeeds'

Thakur went on to accuse Dorsey of covering up the charges revealed in 'Twitter Files,' saying, "What was said, is a blatant lie. Jack Dorsey woke up after years of sleep and wants to cover up his misdeeds. When Twitter was bought by another person, it was revealed in 'Twitter Files' how was the platform being misused. Jack Dorsey has not been able to answer this to date because he was exposed," ANI reported.

Twitter Files is a collection of internal documents made public by Elon Musk after he took over as Twitter CEO. The documents expose Twitter's laxity in handling high-profile content moderation decisions under Dorsey.