Twitter tags or removes content from its platform if it is found to be misleading, altered or fabricated.
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The microblogging website Twitter has flagged a tweet relating to ongoing protests by farmers against recent farm laws enacted by Amit Malviya, who heads the BJP’s information and technology department, as “manipulated media.”
According to Twitter policy, a tweet may be tagged as ‘tampered’ or deleted in some cases, if the company has reason to believe that the content, or the context in which the content is presented, is “altered from meaningfully and misleading or manipulated “. To evaluate such media, it is analyzed whether the editing has been done in a way that fundamentally alters the composition of the content, if it has been shared in a deceptive way and if it is likely to affect public safety or cause harm.
The US-based company uses its own technology to determine whether the content has been altered or manufactured in a significant and misleading way, or receives reports through partnerships with third parties.
On November 28, Mr. Malviya, in response to a tweet from former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, which showed a policeman brandishing a baton at an elderly farmer during a lathi charge at a recent protest, tweeted: “Rahul Gandhi must be the most discredited opposition leader India has seen in a long, long time. “
Along with the text, he shared a video with the title “propaganda versus reality” that showed that while the policeman did brandish the baton, the farmer escaped his blow.
Mr. Malviya’s tweet was verified by AltNews and BoomLive. According to AltNews, the video shared by Mr. Malviya was made by a Twitter user who goes by the name of ‘Political Kida’. The video shared by this identifier was also marked as “manipulated media”.
Meanwhile, Boomlive contacted the farmer in the video, who said he sustained injuries to his forearm, back and calf muscle. Farmer Sukhdev Singh is from Sangojla in the Kapurthala district of Punjab.
This is perhaps the first case of Twitter implementing its tagging policy in India. In recent months, the company has followed the practice in the US and added fact-check notices to US President Donald Trump’s tweets.
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