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December 15, 2022

Bari Weiss errs in 'Twitter Files – 5' regarding her claims about Indian PM Modi!

By Rajan Laad

The fifth installment of "Twitter Files" by Bari Weiss revealed a culture of intolerance disguised as concern for public safety and propriety at Twitter that eventually led to the deplatforming of President Donald Trump. 

The details were covered in Andrea Widburg's excellent post.

However, in citing examples of global "tyrants" who still remain on Twitter, Weiss erred in her claim about Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

The basis of the claim was an article in the New York Times, from last February, which falsely claimed that Twitter was compelled to permanently block numerous accounts for making "inflammatory remarks" about P.M. Modi after the Indian government issued a notice of noncompliance that could get Twitter's Indian employees up to seven years in jail.

So let's revisit the facts.

It started with the Indian government passing three new farm laws that proposed much-required reforms to the Indian farming sector.

However, the passage of these laws did cause concern among farmers, who prefer the old system.

The left and myriad other nefarious forces leaped in and inflamed the situation by spreading misinformation. 

Finally, the farmers began a protest by blockading a highway that led to India's capital, Delhi. 


In parallel, representatives of the protesting farmers were negotiating with the government.

In parallel, representatives of the protesting farmers were negotiating with the government.

There were rumors that George Soros was funding the troublemakers. 

Juvenile "activist" Greta Thunberg supported the protests.  Thunberg accidentally tweeted a toolkit that revealed a campaign to spread chaos and instability across India, using the protests.  Also supporting the protest were Meena Harris, niece of U.S. vice president Kamala Harris; Rep. Ilhan Omar; and celebrities Rihanna, Susan Sarandon, Trevor Noah, John Cusack, etc.

Some protesters resorted to violence, resulting in clashes with the police.  These incidences were intermittent.

The chaos reached its peak on Jan. 26, 2021, which is celebrated as Republic Day in India.  It was the day in 1950 that the Indian constitution was ratified. 

To celebrate Republic Day, the Indian flag is hoisted at the Red Fort, one of the foremost Indian monuments in Delhi.  There is also a parade of the armed forces and a cultural pageant to display the diverse cultures across India.

Various violent "protesters" organized a "tractor protest."  The protestors broke barriers despite tight security and broke into the Red Fort and hoisted two foreign flags at the top.  This was a desecration of the monument and a symbolic attack on the Indian state.  There were also reports of violence in Delhi on that day, causing injuries to the police and citizens. 

A significant number of Twitter accounts and hashtags were used to spread misinformation.  Some accounts claimed that a protester was shot dead by the police, despite his death being accidental.  Liberal elements in Indian media picked up this claim and amplified it.

On Jan. 30, 2021, a hashtag emerged that accused the Indian government of planning a genocide of the farmers.

This was a preposterous but grave claim that could have inflamed an already tense situation.  The government of India (GoI) immediately dispatched a notice to Twitter urging the company to block accounts and remove tweets that pushed this spurious claim. 

The GoI reminded Twitter that its requests were according to Indian laws under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, which Twitter is obligated to follow.

On Feb. 10, 2021, Twitter blocked a few of the accounts requested but eventually restored many of these accounts.  

On Feb. 11, the GoI served another notice to Twitter reminding employees that non-compliance with Section 69A of the I.T. Act could result in imprisonment of up to seven years and fines.

Twitter claimed that these GoI orders were not inconsistent with Indian laws and refused to take down the troublemaking accounts.

During a meeting with Twitter executives, the Indian government made it clear that the use of the inflammatory hashtag did not fall under journalistic freedom or free speech, since it was an emergency situation.

This was followed by a prolonged back-and-forth between Twitter and the GoI.  Finally, on June 27, 2022, almost six months after the GoI's first notice, Twitter blocked the requested accounts per the notices sent by the GoI.

A week later, Twitter approached a state high court, challenging the GoI's orders.  The matter is still being debated in court.

Last November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted the demands of the protesting farmers and repealed the three farm laws.  He conceded his inability to convince a section of farmers despite his best efforts.

Back to Bari Weiss.

Clearly, both of her claims about Prime Minister Modi are false.

The GoI did not threaten to arrest Twitter employees in India and to incarcerate them for up to seven years for being critical of Modi.

Instead, it sent a series of notices to Twitter urging its staffers to block accounts that were spreading a false claim that P.M. Modi was planning a genocide of the protesting farmers. 

Weiss's claim ignores the fact that there were a series of exchanges between Twitter and the GoI where Twitter refused to follow Indian laws, despite the grave situation at the protest sites.

There were no "threats of arrest."  Instead, the GoI reminded Twitter India of the results of violating the specific law.  Anyone in violation of the law in question would face similar consequences. 

Weiss made it appear that the threats of arrest were vindictive, random, and baseless.

Her sweeping question as to why P.M. Modi was not deplatformed was also baseless.  P.M. Modi was not directly involved in any of the exchanges with Twitter, nor has he ever tweeted anything that could be regarded as incitement to violence.

Weiss's implicit comparison of Modi with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed, and president of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari, all of whom openly called for violence against a group of people, is gravely unfair.

Hopefully, she will issue an apology and a retraction. 

Perhaps Elon Musk himself will intervene if she fails.

In the end, Weiss's tweet thread exposing the internal corruption in the former Twitter regime is of monumental importance.  It is hence quite essential that she get every detail right.

Using a debunked NYT article to build a narrative against the corruption of the former Twitter regime is unnecessary because there is plenty of factual evidence to support that claim.

Weiss's claim is also defamatory.

Most people who are unaware of the facts will glance at the tweet and presume that India is a totalitarian state where no criticism of the P.M. is permitted.  The truth is, India's Twitter is replete with tweets mocking, attacking, and ridiculing the P.M.  The fact that the farm laws were repealed is evidence that the government listens to protesters.

It is also counterproductive because Prime Minister Modi was as much a victim of NYT misinformation as President Trump.

Image: Nahrendra Modi via Wikimedia Commons, YouTube screen shot, CC BY-SA 3.0.

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