Delhi Police asks Twitter to clarify how it classified Patra's tweet as manipulated

Days after the government asked Twitter to remove the "manipulated media" tag on BJP leader Sambit Patra's tweet and it not complying with it, Delhi Police on Monday served a notice on the social media giant seeking details on how it classified the post on a ‘toolkit’ in such a manner.

Investigators from the Special Cell went to Twitter India's offices in south Delhi’s Lado Sarai and Haryana’s Gurugram in the evening to serve the notice even as critics described it as an attempt in coercing the social media giant to fall in line after it did not comply with the government's order.

Also read: Delhi Police asks Twitter to clarify how it classified Patra's tweet as manipulated

A Delhi Police spokesperson said a team went to the Twitter office to serve a notice as a part of a routine process and it was necessitated as the investigators wanted to ascertain who was the “right person to serve a notice” as replies by Twitter India Managing Director “have been very ambiguous”.

The spokesperson’s clarification after a section of the media reported that the police was raiding the premises in connection with the toolkit case, which saw the Congress and the BJP at loggerheads. "We have no comment to share at this time," Twitter India said in response to a query on police action.

Earlier in the day, the spokesperson has said that the Special Cell is investigating a complaint about Patra's tweet that spoke about a 'toolkit' which he claimed was prepared by the Congress to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government.

Also read: 'Toolkit' row: Delhi Police sends notice to Twitter over 'Manipulated Media' tag

Delhi Police are enquiring into a complaint in which clarification is sought from Twitter regarding the classification of a tweet by Patra as 'manipulated', the spokesperson said.

"It appears that Twitter has some information which is not known to us on the basis of which they have classified it as such. This information is relevant to the enquiry. The Special Cell which is conducting the enquiry wants to find out the truth. Twitter, which has claimed to know the underlying truth, should clarify," the spokesperson said about the clarification it sought from Twitter.

A notice issued on May 21 said that the Special Cell was conducting a "preliminary enquiry" into the 'toolkit' "allegedly released" by the Congress. It said it has come to its knowledge that Twitter was acquainted with the facts of the matter and is in possession of information regarding it and asked its officials to present relevant documents on May 22.

Following a complaint from the Congress, Twitter had tagged the tweets of Patra and some others as "manipulated media". The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MietY) then asked Twitter to drop the tag saying it would impact an ongoing investigation, which the social media company has so far not adhered to. Experts have said that the government's argument does not hold water.

Also read: Explained: How Twitter decides on the ‘manipulated media’ tag

The Congress and the BJP were locked in a verbal duel after the latter accused its opponent of orchestrating a campaign to malign the Narendra Modi government over Covid-19 handling and tweeted a 'toolkit' to the party. However, Congress sources said that the toolkit barring one on Central Vista was not its work.

The Congress had on May 20 wrote to Twitter urging it to permanently suspend accounts of four senior BJP leaders -- J P Nadda, B L Santosh, Smriti Irani and Patra -- accusing them of "knowingly spreading misinformation" on toolkit issue to hide their "failures".