Twitter Arbitrarily Suspends ABVP Accounts, Later Restores Them

Twitter India on Friday morning suspended the official account of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the personal accounts of some of its leaders.

As outrage mounted on social media against this move by Twitter, all accounts were reinstated. The following accounts were suspended : @ABVPvoice, @ABVPDelhi, @BahugunaSaket, @SaurabhJNU, @irahulsharmaa, @Dikshaa Verma ‏and @RishiUvaach.

Twitter, as a private entity, can suspend accounts that violate the Terms of Service. Reasons for suspension of the above accounts, as stated by twitter, are Spam, Account security at risk and Abusive Tweets or behaviour. But in this case, it is unclear why these accounts were targeted.

The ABVP has sought an apology from Twitter. @AABVPvoice, the official account of ABVP, tweeted:

Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Bagga also sought clarification on the suspension of the ABVP twitter handle and the accounts of its leaders.

ABVP activist Disha Verma, whose account was suspended briefly, tweeted:

ABVP, the student’s organisation of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), claims to be the largest student organisation of the world.

Recently, ABVP has been accused of indulging in violence against Left student organisations who allegedly raised anti-national slogans in Ramjas College of Delhi University. ABVP, however, vociferously denied any such involvement in the violence.

Also Read: Ramjas College Fracas: Here Is ABVP’s Side Of The Story