Indian Government muzzles Twitter as Rihanna, Greta Thunberg add celebrity support for farmer protests

A farmer near barricades erected by the police that block a highway in Ghazipur on the outskirts of New Delhi, India. — Bloomberg

LOS ANGELES: Social media platform Twitter is the eye of a political storm in India after the federal government came down hard on it for unblocking accounts supporting the long-running protests by farmers.

On Monday, the Indian government’s Ministry of Home Affairs required and obtained the temporary suspension of several Twitter accounts including: actor and activist Sushant Singh; investigative news organisation The Caravan; activist Hansraj Meena; CEO of government broadcaster Prasar Bharti, Shashi Shekhar Vempati; and farmers’ rights outfits Kisan Ekta Morcha and Bhartiya Kisan Union.