After Twitter deleted 52 tweets flagged by the Centre as ‘critical’ of its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre has clarified that the tweets were deleted because they spread fake news by circulating old pictures and created panic amongst people through misinformation.

"There are many Twitter handles which have been criticizing the government 24x7 but the government didn't ask them to be blocked. Only those who have been circulating fake news, old photos and trying to mislead and create panic in the society have been restricted," a Government spokesperson said.

The Indian Government had reportedly asked Twitter to take action against tens of tweets on April 22 and April 23 through a legal notice to the company, saying that they weren’t in compliance with the Indian IT Act 2000.

Twitter complied with the request partially by deleting 52 of those tweets after reviewing them under Twitter Rules and the local law. “If the content violates Twitter’s Rules, the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only.”

The deleted tweets are still accessible from outside of India. The account holders of the tweets have been apprised of the action through emails.

Some of the aforementioned tweets were made by Member of Parliament Revanth Reddy, West Bengal Minister Moloy Ghatak, actor Vineet Kumar Singh, and filmmakers Vinod Kapri and Avinash Das.

The tweets highlighted the Centre’s missteps in managing the pandemic including the scarcity of vital resources such as oxygen and medicines, and the Kumbh Mela that in Haridwar that took place despite the resurgence of the pandemic.

Gangs of Wasseypur-fame actor Vineet Kumar Singh had tweeted criticizing political rallies amid the pandemic and the shortage of medicines. Telangana Congress MP, Revanth Reddy, had tweeted a picture of a mass cremation, noting that India was recording more than two lakh cases of coronavirus each day and that the country’s healthcare system had collapsed. West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak had tweeted criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for exporting vaccines, all of which were taken down.

Some of the tweets, however, did resort to use of old images and those irrelevant in Covid’s context to prove a point against the Government which only led to fueling misinformation and fear-mongering among the public.

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This widely circulated picture of an old woman with an oxygen cylinder is actually from 2018 (Image Source: India Today)

One such image includes that of an old woman sitting on the road with an oxygen cylinder that went viral in the past week. Turns out, the image is from 2018 and not even remotely related to the Covid crisis.

Another such image shows people lying down on the floor with drips attached to their arms. It was shared by Director of Anaarkali Of Aarah, Avinash Das, who wrote, “Gujarat model of healthcare! Picture of Tapi district, where Corona patients are being treated in tents.” However, the picture is actually from Maharashtra’s Navapur about treatment of Typhoid and not Covid patients.

Another widely circulated image shows a woman sitting on a bike with oxygen cylinders, which was being shared to emphasize the shortage of beds and oxygen in India. However, the image was actually from Bangladesh.

While the pictures not being related to the current situation does not invalidate them, passing them on as recent or as being related to the Covid-19 situation in India does fan panic amidst an already stressful environment.

Responding to the Government’s request of flagging the tweets, Twitter said, “We are tackling COVID-19 misinformation using a combination of product, technology, and human review – these critical efforts will continue to be a priority. In order for content related to COVID-19 to be labeled or removed under this policy, it must advance a claim of fact, expressed in definitive terms; be demonstrably false or misleading, based on widely available, authoritative sources; likely to impact public safety or cause serious harm.”

This comes at a time when India is reeling under a devastating wave of the pandemic reporting nearly 3.5 lakh fresh cases in the last 24 hours. The massive number of cases has greatly tested the country’s health infrastructure bringing it close to collapsing as Covid patients grapple with unavailability of beds and oxygen.

This has led the general public to heavily criticize the Central Government for lack of preparedness and mismanagement, and for its callous attitude with holding rallies and festivals on one hand while the country suffers on the other.