Micro-blogging platform, Twitter suspends over 500 accounts after violence during farmers’ tractor rally

New Delhi : Micro-blogging service Twitter on Wednesday (January 27) suspended 550 accounts in view of the violence that erupted during farmers’ tractor rally on the 72nd Republic Day of India. Twitter said that it had applied labels to tweets that were found to be in violation of synthetic and manipulated media policy.

The spokesperson said: “Twitter has taken strong enforcement action to protect the conversation on the service from attempts to incite violence, abuse, and threats that could trigger the risk of offline harm by blocking certain terms that violate our rules for trends.”

“We are monitoring the situation closely and remain vigilant, and strongly encourage those on the service to report anything they believe is in violation of the rules,” the Twitter spokesperson added. Several public and private properties were damaged in acts of vandalism by the mob. A total of 22 FIRs have been registered regarding the violence, in which over 300 police personnel were injured. Delhi Police has detained 200 people in connection with the violence.

The Delhi Police FIR named farmer leaders Darshan Pal, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Buta Singh Burjgil, Rajinder Singh, and Joginder Singh Ugraha for breaching the no objection certificate (NOC) issued for the farmers’ tractor rally.