Cartoonist Manjul recently received a notice from Twitter where the microblogging platform informed him that the Indian government saw his handle in violation of Indian laws. Sharing a screenshot of the email from Twitter, Manjul (@MANJULtoons) sarcastically tweeted, “Jai ho Modi sarkaar ki (Hail the Modi government).”
The notice said, “In the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that Twitter has received a request from Indian law enforcement regarding your Twitter account, @MANJULtoons, that claims the following content violates the law(s) of India. We have not taken any action on the reported content at this time as a result of this request. As Twitter strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of our users, it is our policy to notify our users if we receive a legal request from an authorized entity (such as law enforcement or a government agency) to remove content from their account.”
Twitter further said that while the company does provide legal advice, “we want you to have an opportunity to evaluate the request and, if you wish, take appropriate action to protect your interests. This may include seeking legal counsel and challenging the request in court, contacting relevant civil society organizations, voluntarily deleting the content (if applicable), or finding some other resolution.”
जय हो मोदी जी की सरकार की! pic.twitter.com/VylSsI2tVX
— MANJUL (@MANJULtoons) June 4, 2021
In a series of tweets, Manjul challenged, “Fortunately, the Modi government did not say that Twitter should shut down the handle; that this cartoonist is unrighteous, an atheist; that he does not see Modi as god.” He added, “It would have been good if the government had said which tweet it has a problem with. Something similar could have been done then.”
Manjul has been making several cartoons which depict the devastation left by the second wave of COVID-19 and the inadequacies of the government to address the issues.
#SupremeCourt #vaccination #COVID
— MANJUL (@MANJULtoons) June 3, 2021
My #cartoon for @firstpost
Telegram: https://t.co/0zuidd6Oiw
All My Cartoons: https://t.co/P3V4zoI8mw pic.twitter.com/XEcVXm0e0T
#COVID19 #Vaccination
— MANJUL (@MANJULtoons) June 2, 2021
My #cartoon for @firstpost
Telegram: https://t.co/0zuidd6Oiw pic.twitter.com/l1G184wJoz
By @vrushabh_tweet pic.twitter.com/gTjpqejcjb
— MANJUL (@MANJULtoons) June 3, 2021
#Ayurveda VS #Allopathy
— MANJUL (@MANJULtoons) May 26, 2021
My #cartoon for @firstpost
Telegram: https://t.co/0zuidcPdqY pic.twitter.com/fMd58mx8m1
Earlier in April, Medianama reported that Twitter had censored 52 tweets that were critical of the BJP-led Union government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In February this year, Twitter had also blocked several accounts, including that of Caravan magazine before restoring them hours later. This happened during the peak of farmers’ protests against the contentious farm laws. Twitter had said then that it had withheld the accounts in response to a legal demand.