BJP leader alleges Twitter is restricting her account; 'not a single follower in 5 months'

BJP leader Nupur Sharma on Wednesday complained that Twitter has resorted to restricting her account. Sharma's statement comes amid the Centre's new IT rules that have come into effect. Twitter India too has been involved in a row as the face-off between the Centre and the social media giant continues. Meanwhile, the BJP leader has slammed Twitter and revealed that the website is curbing her account by restricting followers.

BJP leader Nupur Sharma alleges Twitter of curbing followers

Taking to the social media platform, Nupur Sharma tweeted that Twitter is jealous of the BJP. Citing Twitter India, Nupur Sharma added that she gained only 6000 followers in the last year whereas not a single follower in the last five months. In addition, she complained that as soon as her follower count reaches a certain number, it comes down.

Twitter responds over its non-compliance with India's new IT Rules 

Earlier on Monday Twitter India responded on its row over its non-compliance with the new IT rules after a face-off with th Centre. A company Spokesperson said that Twitter 'strives to comply with applicable law in India' while maintaining its stand on the freedom of expression. 

"Twitter strives to comply with applicable law in India. We continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the Indian law." the company Spokesperson said in a statement.  

Union IT Minister Ravishankar Prasad has also cleared the air around questions pertaining to privacy rights. During his conversation with Republic TV, Prasad said that the government of India has no intention of invading any rights. In addition, he has also said on multiple occasions that the government of India welcomes dissent and criticism but stands against the misuse of social media. 

Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules

The Centre had stated that if the social media companies fail to comply with the rules, then they will be liable to losing their status and protection as Intermediaries and may also face criminal action as per the existing laws of India. As per the new rules that were laid out, every company had been directed to appoint a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person and a resident grievance officer. In addition, the rules also stated that the appointee will be an employee who resides in India. Even so, the Centre revealed that apart from the Indian website Koo, no other company complied in spite of repeated reminders. 

In addition, the Centre also informed that apart from standard responses, the social media companies sought a longer window of six months. They also informed that these companies awaited for a response from  their company headquarters in the USA. However, the Centre added that the 3-month timeframe provided to the companies was sufficient enough for the implementation of the guidelines - particularly for the appointment of the Resident Grievance Officer, the Chief Compliance Officer and Nodal Contact Person.