Twitter flags BJP leader Amit Malviya’s tweet on farmer as ‘manipulated media’

Twitter on Wednesday labelled a tweet by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Information Technology Cell head Amit Malviya as “manipulated media”. This is the first instance of the social networking site calling out alleged fake news in India.

Last week, Malviya had in a tweet called Congress leader Rahul Gandhi the “most discredited Opposition leader” in India after the latter shared a photo showing a police officer wielding his baton against a protesting farmer in Delhi. The BJP leader then shared a video claiming the “police did not even touch the farmer” and that Gandhi was spreading “propaganda”.

However, Gandhi’s tweet had made no mention of any police action. It had said: “It is a very sad photo. Our slogan was ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ but today PM Modi’s arrogance made the jawan stand against the farmer. This is very dangerous.”