Microblogging site Twitter has disabled the Twitter handle of self-styled Godman, Gurmeet Ram Rahim on Friday. The Dera chief is currently serving his term in prison after he was convicted of rape. It has not been suspended or deleted but Twitter’s policies allow restriction of a Twitter account in a particular region. That is exactly what has been done with Gurmeet’s account.
If a Twitter user in India tries to access handle and the tweets on it can still be accessed using a proxy server or by Twitter users based outside India.
The self-proclaimed Godman’s Twitter account has over 3.6 million followers. It is a verified account although most of the time the tweets that featured on it were generic and full of self-promotion.
“Many countries, including the United States, have laws that may apply to Tweets and/or Twitter account content. In our continuing effort to make our services available to users everywhere, if we receive a valid and properly scoped request from an authorized entity, it may be necessary to reactively withhold access to certain content in a particular country from time to time,” Twitter notes on its website.
There may be a possibility, that following the verdict in his case, Twitter may have received a notice for suspension or deletion of his Twitter account. But chances are that instead of deleting the account, Twitter is complying with the Indian law by restricting Gurmeet’s account in India.
The Twitter account of Honeypreet Insaan, Gurmeet’s adopted daughter, remains accessible in India.
