On January 27, Twitter replied to the allegations made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi where he had alleged conspiracy as his followers were not increasing on the social media platform. In its reply, the Twitter spokesperson said that the social media platform has a zero-tolerance zero-tolerance approach to platform manipulation and spam. Twitter further added that they have removed millions of accounts for violating their terms and condition.
Follower counts are a visible feature&we want everyone to have confidence that numbers are meaningful&accurate. Twitter has zero-tolerance approach to platform manipulation&spam: Twitter spox on Rahul Gandhi’s letter to Twitter stating that no.of his followers seeing a drop (1/3) pic.twitter.com/HiU0QORYcR
— ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022
As per news agency ANI, Twitter Spokesperson, while replying to the allegations, said, “Follower counts are a visible feature, and we want everyone to have confidence that numbers are meaningful and accurate. Twitter has a zero-tolerance approach to platform manipulation and spam.”
Twitter added that the platform fights spam and malicious automation using machine learning tools. The spokesperson said, “We fight spam and malicious automation strategically and at scale with machine learning tools, and as part of those consistent and ongoing efforts to ensure a healthy service and credible accounts, follower counts can and do fluctuate.”
We remove millions of accounts each week for violating our policies on platform manipulation&spam. You can take a look at latest Twitter Transparency Center update for more context.While some accounts notic minor difference,in certain cases no.could be higher: Twitter Spox (3/3)
— ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022
Twitter further added millions of accounts are removed from the platform each week for violating Twitter’s policies regarding manipulation and spam. The spokesperson said, “We remove millions of accounts each week for violating our policies on platform manipulation and spam. You can take a look at the latest Twitter Transparency Center update for more context. While some accounts notice minor difference, in certain cases no. could be higher.”
Rahul Gandhi’s letter to Twitter
On December 27, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had written to Parag Agrawal, CEO of Twitter, where he alleged his followers were not increasing, but the followers of other political leaders were increasing consistently. He alleged Twitter was playing a pawn in the hands of the government, and the platform was “unwittingly complicity in curbing free and fair speech in India.”
Gandhi had alleged his followers count stopped increasing in July 2021, after which he received multiple communications from Twitter that a complaint was received from ‘India’ against his account. He also mentioned letters by BJP leader Vijay Jolly from Delhi where he had requested Twitter to act on the allegedly malicious tweets by Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi has basically insinuated that his follower count not increasing means that Twitter is colluding with the government of India to ‘limit his reach’ and curb his voice. Twitter has clarified that they are committed to removing fake accounts and bots that are used to falsely amplify the social media reach of individuals.
