Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The central Government has taken exception to the decision of Twitter to affix the ‘Manipulated Media’ tag to a tweet made by the Indian political leaders as a reference to a toolkit which is created to undermine, derail and demean the effort of the government against the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to the official report, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has sent a notice to Twitter asking to drop the ‘Manipulated Media’ tag.
The report further added that the ministry has stated that the veracity of the toolkit is under investigation following a complaint lodged by a concerned party. The Ministry has questioned the micro-blogging site regarding the ‘Manipulated Media’ tag and its unilateral conclusion on the matter.
The report further added that the government also stated that such tagging by Twitter appears “prejudged, prejudiced and a deliberate attempt to colour the investigation by the local law enforcement agency.
The move by the centre came after Twitter tagged a May 18 post by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra as ‘manipulated media’. In his tweet, Patra alleged the Congress circulated a document that outlined ways to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Several top BJP leaders amplified Patra’s tweet.
He twitted- “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,”
Writer and columnist Shefali Vaidya was also marked as ‘manipulated media’ –
Regarding the matter, Twitter now hasn’t made any official statement.
Image Source – Google
