Over the last week, there has been a furore on microblogging site Twitter regarding the suspension of Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Hegde’s Twitter account. After a two-week tussle, Mr Hegde was told by the company on Tuesday, November 5 that his suspended social media account would not be restored.
Following Twitter’s response, Mr Sanjay Hegde, in interviews with media outlets, including Newsd, said that he will probably use some other platform like Mastodon. Since then, various social media users, including former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, columnist Mitali Saran have created their accounts on the ‘Mastodon’ service in solidarity with Sanjay Hegde.
What is Mastodon?
Mastodon is a free and open-source social networking service. Which allows users to host their own server node in the network, and its various separately operated user bases are federated across many different servers. These servers are connected as a federated social network, allowing users from different servers to interact with each other.
“Mastodon isn’t just a website, it is a federation – think Star Trek. Thousands of independent communities running Mastodon form a coherent network, where while every planet is different, being part of one is being part of the whole,” the homepage of the website reads.
According to the product’s website, ” Mastodon comes with effective anti-abuse tools to help protect yourself.”
Here is what the Twitterati said regarding the social media service Mastodon.
As @twitter & @TwitterIndia has told us that they shall arbitrarily control who gets to speak here & who gets banned, it is time we explore other platforms.
I have made my account on mastodon [email protected]. Let us remain connected over different platforms. https://t.co/TsF6jnyfCZ
— Kannan Gopinathan (@naukarshah) November 5, 2019
I am on at [email protected].
If @Twitter does not reinstate @sanjayuvacha before 12 noon on 6th Nov, 2019, please join me in a 24-hour Twitter Boycott in solidarity with #SanjayHegde starting at that time.
During the Boycott period, we will not access twitter. At all. https://t.co/HPDUvO6XbJ
— Prasanna S (@prasanna_s) November 5, 2019
So am I [email protected]
remember Mastodon is a Free and Open Source Software, without which internet as we know it today won’t exist. May the #FOSS be with you. https://t.co/ajuDCIS05g
— Mishi Choudhary (@MishiChoudhary) November 5, 2019
I’m in too. Please, @TwitterIndia @Twitter @TwitterSupport, restore @sanjayuvacha, and work towards restoring your credibility?
Meanwhile, I’m also set up as @MitaliSaran on Mastodon. https://t.co/ZW9cEcldKA
— Mitali Saran (@mitalisaran) November 6, 2019
So have I. Some of us mass-moved into Mastodon in Berlin this May, but it wasn’t a complete transition. This gives me some push to take another shot at it. I am [email protected] https://t.co/ckrumh0D2U
— Vishnu Varatharajan (@vishnutshells) November 6, 2019
Folks, if you’re on mastodon in solidarity with Sanjay Hegde, and if I’m not following you there yet, pls let me know.
I will happily follow you there. 🙂
Btw, I am @raja_sw on mastodon.
— Raja راجہ (@Raja_Sw) November 6, 2019
Interview: “They picked a wrong person for this,” Sanjay Hegde on Twitter suspension
