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

Internet was abuzz on Tueday with entry of a 'Sweshi' social media platform in form of Tooter which many are calling as "India's response to Twitter." Tooter is derived from Mastodon project - a free and open-source self-hosted social networking service. 'Me 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 Sweshi Andolan 2.0'

“We believe that India should have a Sweshi social network. Without one we are just a digital colony of American Twitter India Company, different than what we were under British East India Company. Tooter is our Sweshi Andolan 2.0. Join us in this Andolan. Join us!” res Tooter official website. Just like users can post tweets on Twitter, y can post ‘toots’ on Tooter.  

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

Handles 'Verified' or 'Bots'?

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reports suggested that as soon as a user creates an account, it soon follows  creator of website Nanda with handle @nanda. Also, Tooter allows users to sign up with Gmail and Yahoo accounts only. Users using app can also upgre to Tooter Pro. However, it is t yet clear what 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.  banned applications, which include a few dating apps, were a threat to "sovereignty and integrity of India", an official statement said. 

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