Twitter withholds Manipur women violence related posts and videos in India

Twitter is withholding content related to horrific video of Kuki women in Manipur

Videos and posts related to the horrific incident of Kuki tribal women being paraded naked in Manipur are being withheld in India on social media platforms such as Twitter in response to legal demands from the country, Moneycontrol has found.

This development comes after Twitter was reportedly pulled up by the Indian government for hosting such videos on the platform. Not just Twitter, journalist Barkha Dutt also pointed out that YouTube reached out to her saying that it has received an order from the Indian government regarding a Manipur-related video and that they may have to block it in India.

The video has evoked widespread condemnation from various parts of the country, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being criticised for the law and order situation in the state, where they are also in power. The state has been embroiled in violence for the last past couple of months.

Additionally, internet has remained suspended in the state for over 70 days. Post the video going viral on social media on July 19, it was learnt that the incident happened in May. The mismatch between the actual date of the incident and the spread of the videos can be attributed to the internet situation in the northeastern state.

On Twitter, posts related to the incident by academician Ashok Swain have been withheld in India. "This Tweet from @ashoswai has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand," says the post. Such tweets can only be withheld in response to a valid legal demand, such as a court order.

However, the actual post can still be accessed outside India, or by accessing a VPN.  Moneycontrol accessed the post through a VPN, which showed that Swain was criticising the Indian government for the violence.

Another tweet by user Zogam Mosi, who describes themselves as social media influencer on their Twitter bio had made a post with screenshots from the video and made a call for "raise our voices" against the violence in Manipur.

That tweet too has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand.

A tweet by author Sangita Nambiar with screenshots from the video, too, has been withheld in the country. The post questions the silence of the BJP, National Commission for Women, Women and Child Development minister around the issue.

Moneycontrol has reached out to Twitter and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with queries in this regard. The article will be updated when a response is received.

It is also important to know that Twitter has stopped sharing content takedown details with Lumen Database, which was a principal source for journalists and researchers into blocking orders sent by governments to the micro-blogging site.

YouTube video

Journalist Barkha Dutt in a tweet said, "Very irrational order received from @goi_meity on #ManipurVideo - at @themojostory we have not shown ANY uncensored images from video that show women naked, all shots are covered in black to protect the women. If you block our videos you are blocking the reportage of #Manipur."

Dutt also shared a screenshot of an email reportedly received from YouTube, which said that it has received a confidential order under the IT Act 2000, and that as per local law obligations, YouTube may have to block the video in India.

"To be clear I obviously agree that any graphic use of #Manipur video that fails to protect identity of the women should be blocked. But by blocking those of us who have not done so, we are being lumped together & how would we even report what the PM & CJI have said on #Manipur," Dutt said in another tweet.

Moneycontrol has also reached out to YouTube for comments on the matter and the article will be updated when an update is received.