Twitter Tags Sambit Patra¡¯s Tweet As Manipulated Media, MeitY Wants Tag Removed

Twitter has gone ahead and flagged one of the Tweets shared by BJP spokesperson, Sambit Patra as ¡®Manipulated Media¡¯, and the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) isn¡¯t happy about it.

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The tweet by the BJP spokesperson had a screenshot of the document highlighting a ¡®Congress Toolkit¡¯, which according to him was allegedly trying to malign the image of the Modi government. The alleged document allows BJP to speak up against Congress who has been targeting the government for mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic situation in India.

Friends look at the #CongressToolKit in extending help to the needy during the Pandemic!
More of a PR exercise with the help of ¡°Friendly Journalists¡± & ¡°Influencers¡± than a soulful endeavour.
Read for yourselves the agenda of the Congress:#CongressToolKitExposed pic.twitter.com/3b7c2GN0re

¡ª Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) May 18, 2021

The documents were however, claimed by Congress to be fake, to which Patra shared a series of more tweets as evidence, claiming that they¡¯ve been made by the Congress party¡¯s research department.

Toolkits are not alien to the Congress and their eco-system. Infact, a substantial part of their energy goes into making them. Here is a toolkit on the Central Vista¡­they make one Toolkit of the other every week and when exposed, they "deny" it. #CongressToolkitExposed pic.twitter.com/fsR8VZUOov

¡ª Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) May 18, 2021

Also Read: Twitter Blocks 250 Accounts For Alleged Fake, Provocative Tweets Against PM Modi

When does Twitter flag content as manipulated media?

According to Twitter¡¯s guidelines, a tweet can be marked as manipulated media if the media in it -- whether videos or images or audio -- appears to have been deceptively fabricated or altered.

Twitter: Donald Trump via BBC

This isn¡¯t the first time it has flagged a Tweet like this. We¡¯ve seen Twitter do this in the past with one of Donald Trump¡¯s tweets where a video showed a black child running away from a white child while playing, which had a fake CNN caption.

Twitter follows this following grid to denote whether a media can be regarded as manipulated media and whether it¡¯s necessary to be either just flagged or taken down entirely.

Also Read: Donald Trump's Account Suspended From Twitter And Facebook, After Violent Protests

Twitter

MeitY isn¡¯t happy about this

ANI has reported via Meity sources that the government is asking Twitter to remove the 'Manipulated Media' tags on some of the tweets, ¡°Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), writes a strong communication to global team of Twitter registering objection on use of ¡°Manipulated Media¡± tag on certain tweets by Indian politicians with reference to a toolkit created to derail Govt's efforts against COVID.¡±

Ministry has further stated that Twitter unilaterally chose to go ahead & designate certain tweets as 'Manipulated', pending investigation. This action not only dilutes the credibility of Twitter but also puts question mark on status of Twitter as an ¡°Intermediary¡±: MeitY Sources

¡ª ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021

The tweet added, ¡°Ministry has further stated that Twitter unilaterally chose to go ahead & designate certain tweets as 'Manipulated', pending investigation. This action not only dilutes the credibility of Twitter but also puts question mark on status of Twitter as an ¡°Intermediary. Government has asked Twitter to remove the 'Manipulated Media' tags affixed prejudicially to certain tweets in recent days in the interests of fairness and equity¡±