New Delhi: Actor Kangana Ranaut’s Twitter account was permanently suspended Tuesday, following her remarks on the post-poll violence in West Bengal. In a tweet Monday, the actor called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use his “Viraat roop” from the early 2000’s to “tame” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behaviour that has the potential to lead to offline harm. The referenced account has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter Rules specifically our Hateful Conduct policy and Abusive Behaviour policy. We enforce the Twitter Rules judiciously and impartially for everyone on our service,” a statement released by the social media giant stated.
Violence broke out in West Bengal Monday, following the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress’s victory in the state assembly elections. The BJP office in Kolkata was torched and several workers from both parties have died in this violence. The Central government has sought a report from the state on the violence.
Kangana’s remarks sparked an outrage among social media users and many celebrated, what they termed a “delayed” reaction by Twitter to suspend her account.
This is not the first time the actor has faced criticism for her tweets and temporary restrictions had been put on her account in the past too.
Meanwhile, commenting on Twitter’s suspension of her account Tuesday, Kangana said, “Twitter has only proved my point they’re Americans & by birth, a white person feels entitled to enslave a brown person, they want to tell you what to think, speak or do. I have many platforms I can use to raise my voice, including my own art in the form of cinema.”
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For & against Kangana
Kanagana has a history of putting up outrageous posts on social media.
In January, commenting on the Amazon Prime Video series Tandav, the actor had asked for the makers’ heads to be taken off. Twitter had put restrictions on her account then.
Her sister Rangoli Chandel’s account was also suspended in August last year, for allegedly “spreading hate” following a tweet on the Tablighi Jamaat.
On Tuesday, while many Twitter users, applauded the suspension of the actor’s account, there were some who rose to Kangana’s defence. Among them was the BJP’s Gaurav Goel, who demanded a withdrawal of the suspension.
Meanwhile, JNU students’ union president Aishe Ghosh tweeted, “Those who are trying to spread hate, and spew venom creating communal divide shouldn’t be tolerated at any cost. In these times, Bengal is seeing clashes, the Administration should immediately restore harmony. TMC should stop their cadres from unleashing violence. #KanganaRanuat”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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