Twitter removes Amit Shah’s profile photo citing copyright infringement; restored soon

Social media giant Twitter on Thursday removed the display picture of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the microblogging site, in response to a “report from the copyright holder.” Clicking on his profile picture on his verified handle showed a blank page with the message "Media not displayed. This image has been removed in response to a report from the copyright holder."

Twitter removes Amit Shah’s photo citing copyright violation

The image was restored after a while. According to ANI, there were no other details available from Twitter. Twitter's copyright policy states: "In general, the photographer and NOT the subject of a photograph is the actual rights holder of the resulting photograph."

A similar incident had also happened last week on Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s Twitter account. For more than a week, Twitter blocked his profile and banner photo of him citing copyright violations. A report stated that Dr Swamy’s lawyers and his secretary Jagdish Shetty contacted Twitter, warning of legal action, following which Twitter restored the photos again on Thursday evening. Twitter explained that they were acting based on a complaint from an unknown person from Bangladesh.

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Twitter had recently also removed the display picture on the official Twitter handle of BCCI, also citing copyright violation. Many Twitter users shared their thoughts on the development by posting screenshots of the BCCI's Twitter handle while many of them celebrated because of BCCI's own practice of striking down its videos uploaded by netizens on social media platforms. "BCCI is getting a taste of its own medicine," a Twitter user quipped.

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