Dorsey ‘likes’ pro-stir tweets, govt questions ‘neutrality’ of Twitter

NEW DELHI: Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's decision to 'like' some of the tweets made in support of farmers protests has not gone down well with the government which feels the act raises questions over the neutrality of the micro-blogging platform.


"If the founder of Twitter is openly taking sides, it does raise questions over the neutrality of the platform and how it deals with India's requests related to the subject," a top source in the government said.


Dorsey had liked a few tweets which supported international singer Rihanna's stand on the ongoing farmers' protest against the new agricultural laws.

The tweets liked by Dorsey included the ones by Washington Post journalist Karen Attiah, who claimed in a tweet that "Rihanna has the Indian government shook".

In another tweet, Attaih demanded a dedicated emoji for the ongoing farmers' protests in India just like it did in the case of the Black Lives Matter protest after George Floyd's brutal killing.

Meanwhile, amidst the growing tensions between Twitter and the Indian government, a senior functionary of the company (Mahima Kaul, the India and South Asia public policy director) has quit, though the micro-blogging platform said there was no connection between the developments and her resignation.

"At the start of this year, Kaul decided to step down from her role... to take a well-deserved break. It's a loss for all of us at Twitter, but after more than five years in the role we respect her desire to focus on the most important people and relationships in her personal life. Mahima will continue in her role till the end of March and will support the transition," Monique Meche, VP, Public Policy at Twitter, said.