Kangana Ranaut¡¯s Twitter Account Ban: Is This Big Tech Cancel Culture?
According to Twitter, Kangana Ranaut, through her account violated two policies -- the Hateful Conduct policy and the Abusive Behaviour policy.
The Twitter account of Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut was taken down by the microblogging platform today.
Kangana Ranaut/Twitter
This came after her most recent post where Kangana Ranaut allegedly tried to incite violence through her account. In her tweet yesterday she was voicing her opinion against the violence that broke in several parts of Bengal after the elections.
#?????_???_????_?? #Runout #KanganaRanaut
¡ª Yasir ?? (@YasirH_IND) May 4, 2021
So, The so called Star "Kangana" got runout by twitter for giving an open call for instigating violence and riots in West Bengal.
Well done Twitter!! pic.twitter.com/u58La6ivjQ
She even shared a video on Instagram conveying the same.
Many Twitter users reported the tweet apparently seeing this as an act of inciting violence in the state, which seemingly lead to not just the removal of the tweet, but shutting down of her account entirely.
Also Read: Twitter Blocks 250 Accounts For Alleged Fake, Provocative Tweets Against PM Modi
Did she break Twitter community guidelines?
According to a Twitter spokesperson "We've been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behaviour that has the potential to lead to offline harm. The referenced account has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter Rules specifically our Hateful Conduct policy and Abusive Behaviour policy."
The two policies highlighted by Twitter include the Hateful Conduct policy and the Abusive Behaviour policy.
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The Hateful Conduct policy states, ¡°You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease. We also do not allow accounts whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others on the basis of these categories.¡±
The Abusive Behaviour policy on the other hand states, ¡°You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone or incite other people to do so. We consider abusive behaviour an attempt to harass, intimidate, or silence someone else¡¯s voice.¡±
Could she have received a warning instead of having her account suspended?
As per Twitter¡¯s policies, Kangana¡¯s account could have received the option. The consequences of violating both the aforementioned policies are similar.
Twitter says, ¡°When determining the penalty for violating this policy, we consider a number of factors including, but not limited to the severity of the violation and an individual¡¯s previous record of rule violations. For example, we may ask someone to remove the violating content and serve a period of time in read-only mode before they can Tweet again.¡±
It adds, ¡°Subsequent violations will lead to longer read-only periods and may eventually result in permanent account suspension. If an account is engaging primarily in abusive behaviour or is deemed to have shared a violent threat, we will permanently suspend the account upon initial review.
Can a group of people gang up on someone to have their Twitter account suspended?
Kangana Ranaut¡¯s controversial tweet caused several Twitter users to report her account. Many people were found sharing screenshots of their report.
She needs to be ARRESTED and PUNISHED.#KanganaRanaut pic.twitter.com/Ta3FwQpOrn
¡ª Siddiqui Fariqa (@SiddiquiFariqa) May 4, 2021
#?????_???_????_?? #KanganaRanaut
¡ª Preeti Chaudhary (@HryTweet_) May 4, 2021
A smalll contribution pic.twitter.com/zbKC3Fa7cA
I have contributed on removing this @KanganaTeam from twitter #KanganaRanaut ? pic.twitter.com/GtpYH51zN8
¡ª S ??? ? ? ? (@Sallustan) May 4, 2021
Does this mean a large group of people have control over disabling and suspending accounts of people who don¡¯t align with their views and beliefs? Not likely.
Twitter states in its Abusive Behaviour policy that it does a thorough check on the individual¡¯s activity on the social media platform, ¡°We review both first-person and bystander reports of such content.¡±
Kangana Ranaut/Instagram
Is this another instance of the big-tech cancel culture?
Kangana Ranaut has released a statement on her account suspension by Twitter, stating, ¡°Twitter has only proved my point they're Americans & by birth, a white person feels entitled to enslave a brown person, they want to tell you what to think, speak or do. I have many platforms I can use to raise my voice, including my own art in the form of cinema.¡±
But my heart goes out to the people of this nation who have been tortured, enslaved, and censored for thousands of years, and still, there is no end to the suffering: Actor Kangana Ranaut
¡ª ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2021
She added, ¡°But my heart goes out to the people of this nation who have been tortured, enslaved, and censored for thousands of years, and still, there is no end to the suffering.¡±
To many, this might seem like what happened with the former President of the US, Donald Trump when Twitter blocked his account for spreading fake news and messages surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines and the novel coronavirus.
Also Read: Donald Trump's Account Suspended From Twitter And Facebook, After Violent Protests
However, in this case, it doesn't quite seem like it, as Twitter¡¯s official statement indicates that she has made ¡°repeated violations of Twitter rules¡±.
The spokesperson added, ¡°As per our range of enforcement actions when we permanently suspend an account, we notify people that they have been suspended for abuse violations, and explain which policy or policies they have violated and which content was in violation.¡±
Do you think this suspension of the account was called for? Tell us in the comments below.
