Twitter Apologises For J&K Map Gaffe After Warning From Indian Govt

After social media giant Twitter’s faux pas for displaying a map of Jammu and Kashmir’s Leh as part of People’s Republic of China, the government has written a stern letter to CEO Jack Dorsey, expressing its strong disapproval of the misrepresentation of India’s map. 

IT Secretary Ajay Sawhney in a letter warned Twitter that it not only brings down the country’s sovereignty but also raises questions on Twitter’s neutrality and fairness.

Sawhney reminded Twitter that Leh is the headquarter of Union Territory of Ladakh and both Ladakh as well as Jammu and Kashmir are integral and inalienable parts of India governed by the Constitution of India.

Meanwhile, Twitter spokesperson has acknowledged the letter saying, “Twitter remains committed to working with the Government of India. We respect the sensitivities involved and have duly acknowledged the letter.”

Twitter remains committed to working with the Government of India. We respect the sensitivities involved and have duly acknowledged the letter: Twitter spokesperson https://t.co/9niHFFMiUn

— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2020

A row erupted after National Security Analyst Nitin Gokhale who was live on Twitter near Leh airport, noticed that his location was displaying as ‘Jammu and Kashmir, People’s Republic of China’. “Twitter folks, I just did a live (sic) from the Hall of Fame. Giving Hall of Fame as the location and guess what it is saying Jammu & Kashmir, People’s Republic of China! Are you guys nuts?” Gokhale wrote on his verified handle.

This anomaly was raised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) chairman Kanchan Gupta to Twitter India, stating that it was not an ‘isolated incident’, but that several netizens who were logging online faced the same issue.

This came amid the 7th level of military commander talks between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) over ‘de-escalation and disengagement’, along with the return to status quo at the border.

Twitter’s Tryst With Controversies

This is not the first time Twitter has made such a grave error. Earlier, numerous Twitter users have accused Twitter India of discriminating against minorities and caste groups. The users alleged that certain activists, journalists and lawyers are being “unfairly” targeted by the particular groups on the platform.

Similarly, in another incident, Chinese tech giant – Xiaomi ran into trouble when its smart phone’s weather app was not displaying weather for locations in Arunachal Pradesh. After many netizens complained about the same, Xiaomi India clarified that the weather app was unable to understand data for many locations as it used ‘data from multiple third-party data sources’. It added that the technical error has been fixed now.