Twitter has suspended the @kooeminence account of Indian microblogging platform Koo, which was specifically designed for user queries. The suspension took place on Friday, prompting the co-founder of Koo to publicly criticize Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
The ban comes a couple of days after Twitter’s suspension of several high-profile journalists from well-known news organizations such as CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. This action by Twitter has sparked controversy and raised questions about the platform’s commitment to free speech.
Mayank Bidawatka, co-founder of Koo expressed his disapproval through a Twitter thread that said, “Koo is the best alternative to Twitter. This place is what it is because of you and millions of other users like us. Let’s not fuel this guy’s ego.”
He added, “I forgot. There’s more! – Banning Mastodon account, Not allowing mastodon links saying it’s unsafe, Banning Koo’s eminence handle. I mean seriously. How much more control does the guy need?”
Ever since Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, India’s Koo and Germany’s Mastodon have been presented as ‘alternatives’ to Twitter. And, Both the United Nations and the European Union have expressed their criticism of Elon Musk for banning the accounts of prominent journalists.
Musk cited real-time doxxing as the reason for banning the accounts. Elon Musk tweeted about updated doxxing policies on Wednesday “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.”
“The same doxxing rules that apply to everyone else also apply to ‘journalists’,” referencing Twitter’s prohibition on sharing personal information. Musk added, “Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not.”
Bidawatka also went on to defend the journalists after their accounts were taken down. He said, “Posting publicly available info isn’t doxxing. Why shoot the messenger?” And, the journalists did nothing wrong. “Posting a link to publicly available info isn’t doxxing the way posting a link to an online article isn’t plagiarism,” he added.
Musk also reportedly ‘killed’ Twitter Spaces after a recent discourse with the banned journalists. Bidawatka said, “Killing spaces overnight to control conversations. The list is endless. This isn’t democracy. This is a strong need to exercise power & control. And shouldn’t be allowed. We need to speak up!”
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