User had changed name of his handle to that of a member of the Saudi ruling royal family, and indulged in massive anti-India propaganda.
A twitter user, portraying as the handle of “Princess Noura bint Faisal Al-Saud” started indulging in false anti-India propaganda and since it was being purportedly tweeted by a member of the Saudi royal family, the tweets started getting massive traction.
In one of the tweets, the user, tagged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi while stating that if the Indian government continues to “suppress” Indian Muslims, the trade relations between the two countries will be affected.
“Indian PM @narendramodi and his Govt should keep in mind that KSA buys $5 billion worth of products from them every year. We are the second largest supplier of oil. If they continue to suppress Indian Muslims, then our trade relations will definitely be affected,” the handle tweeted.
Later, it warned the India government over the “Islamophobia” in the country. “I am concerned about the recent reports of Islamophobia in India. Saudi Arabia hosts more than 4 million Indian workers. I hope they all respect the Kingdom’s rules. Anybody insulting Islam will be fined and deported immediately. We don’t tolerate Islamophobia in KSA.”
These tweets got massive traction on the social media platform and were shared by people across both sides of the border, including by senior journalists of Pakistan, who did it either knowingly or under the impression that it was being stated by a member of the Saudi Arabia royal family.
Later, after investigation done by India-based twitter users, it emerged that it was a fake handle that was being run by a Pakistan-based user who was earlier active through- @idanialusuf. Later, the fake handle (@Nouraalsaud) of the princess was taken down by Twitter sometime on Thursday night after it reported to Twitter of being a fake handle by many users. This whole event has brought to the fore the danger posed by Twitter, where anyone can masquerade as a representative of an influential body and spread hatred in the society. This has also raised a lot of concerns among members of the internal security over lack of any quick tool in the hands of the Government of India to handle such “mischief”.
“Imagine if such ‘prominent’ handles start spreading messages that ignite passion among communities in India. What will we be able to do? By the time Twitter acts on such handles and bans them, it will be too late. We need a quick redressal system and it is the responsibility of the MeITY to take this up with Twitter to prevent any untoward incident in the future,” a senior official with an intelligence agency said.
Interestingly, while replying to a RTI query raised by this newspaper, the MeITY recently said that it has “no control” over Twitter’s functioning in India.
The Sunday Guardian, in its RTI, had sought clarifications on the following points: (1) Whether there is a special desk department wing to keep a watch on Twitter activity? (2) Whether your ministry has received complaints against Twitter regarding its functioning in India? If yes, the nature of the complaints and the details of the same? (3) Whether the ministry has received complaints of Twitter acting in a biased manner against users based in India? (4) Whether the department is aware of the methodology used by Twitter to verify accounts? (5) Whether the department is aware that Twitter has been accused of verifying accounts in a biased manner? (6) Whether the ministry has reached out to Twitter, seeking clarifications on the complaints received?
In its reply, the MeiTY said that no such information was available with it.