Thread by @vsirnate

Dear @Twitter @jack let me tell you something. Pls pay attention.

1. We are all living through the worst disaster/crisis of this century already.

2. People in India are scared and sad and grieving and they’re expressing these complex emotions through social media and

by very correctly being angry with the government for being unprepared and complacent.

3. So yes much of the posting on social media is taking the form of government critique which has not gone down well with the government.

4. This government has kept a very very tight control over narratives that are forced down people’s throats by a compliant media and the truths that are manufactured and amplified with the sole purpose of retaining power and brainwashing the public.

5. For the first time since 2013, people aren’t buying the state-scripted narrative because for once the images of burning bodies, the constant wail of sirens, the fact that entire families are ill and the health system has collapsed, is cutting through the brainwashing.

6. Your platform is being used to express dissent and express support for the state. It’s been used by both sides. But YOU TWITTER do not have the right to censor government critique by a grieving public. That’s essentially what you’re doing.

7. They have a right to know what’s going on. Because most of the media in India follows the government line on reporting, platforms like Twitter are the only way to put out what’s happening.

8. If you stop this flow of information you’re basically affecting political outcomes.

9. The Indian government knows this so it’s asking you to do the dirty work for them. Our ire then gets directed at YOU, not just them. It confuses the issue and people. I think your mandate should end with taking down hate speech and so on as your rules specify.

10. But do not roll over so easily for the government. Indian people haven’t! Take your cue from them. There’s a massive power imbalance in India between the state and the public. When you censor accounts that are critical of the govt, you exacerbate this imbalance.

11. I know that polarization drives social media platforms. It’s good for business, because where would your platform be if people weren’t angry enough to stay on it. But that’s a game two can play. We also have the option of quitting en masse and moving to another platform.

And there’s many millions of us as well.

Therefore, I ask you to reinstate suspended accounts and Stop censoring tweets critical of the government. Again, you can fight hate speech but you cannot make the rules for free speech. Corporations just can’t do that.