Tooter - swadeshi version of Twitter - makes waves online; appears to have blue tick bots

The Internet was abuzz on Tueday with the entry of a 'Swadeshi' social media platform in the form of Tooter which many are calling as "India's response to Twitter." Tooter is derived from the Mastodon project - a free and open-source self-hosted social networking service. The 'Made in India' social media platform has a similar colour scheme and interface as that of American microblogging site Twitter. Tooter's logo is conch shell.

'Tooter is our Swadeshi Andolan 2.0'

“We believe that India should have a Swadeshi social network. Without one we are just a digital colony of the American Twitter India Company, no different than what we were under the British East India Company. Tooter is our Swadeshi Andolan 2.0. Join us in this Andolan. Join us!” reads Tooter official website. Just like users can post tweets on Twitter, they can post ‘toots’ on Tooter.  

Tooter has a web application as well as an Android app on the Google Play store but is missing from App Store for iOS devices as of now. According to readouts, Tooter appears to have been created in June this year and the app even claims to have a number of prominent users. It shows 'verified handles' for the likes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, actor Abhishek Bachchan, and Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, though on the mobile site it demarcates the accounts as 'Bots' and appears to be re-posting Tweets that the corresponding accounts share on Twitter.

Handles 'Verified' or 'Bots'?

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The reports suggested that as soon as a user creates an account, it soon follows the creator of the website Nanda with handle @nanda. Also, Tooter allows users to sign up with Gmail and Yahoo accounts only. Users using the app can also upgrade to Tooter Pro. However, it is not yet clear what the Pro version offers.

Meanwhile, India on Tuesday blocked 43 more Chinese mobile apps, including Alibaba Group Holding's e-commerce app AliExpress, in a fresh wave of web sanctions amid its border standoff with China. The banned applications, which include a few dating apps, were a threat to the "sovereignty and integrity of India", an official statement said. 

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