Twitter Wades Into Political Controversy After Banning Kangana Ranaut

Twitter Suspends Kangana Ranaut’s Account For Glorifying Violence In West Bengal

SUMMARY

Last year, Twitter had suspended the account of Ranaut’s sister Rangoli Chandel for spreading hatred against a community

Twitter had suspended the accounts for glorifying violence, which goes against the platform’s rules

It has also been suspending accounts critical over the government’s response to the worsening Covid-19 situation in India

Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut’s Twitter account has been permanently suspended by the platform after a series of controversial tweets against Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, which violated the guidelines of the social media network. Ranaut has been in news for her controversial tweets in the past as well.According to Twitter rules, “Glorifying violent acts could inspire others to take part in similar acts of violence. Additionally, glorifying violent events where people were targeted on the basis of their protected characteristics (including: race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease) could incite or lead to further violence motivated by hatred and intolerance. For these reasons, we have a policy against content that glorifies acts of violence in a way that may inspire others to replicate those violent acts and cause real offline harm, or events where members of a protected group were the primary targets or victims.”

A Twitter spokesperson confirmed the development, saying that Ranaut’s account permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter Rules. “We’ve been clear that we’ll take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm,” the microblogging platform added.