Call for “shooting” protesting farmers Controversial agricultural reform In India, there was a trend for hours on Twitter on Tuesday as thousands of tweets encouraging police brutality to treat them flooded the platform.

violence break out In the capital of India on Tuesday, thousands of farmers set up camps on the outskirts of New Delhi for nearly two months to protest the government’s agricultural reforms, which they said would hurt their livelihoods. They entered the city and clashed with the police. The demonstrators broke through police roadblocks throughout the city and rushed into the historic National Historic Site of Red Fort. The police used heavy batons and fired tear gas.The authorities also shut down Internet access in parts of the capital, which in the opinion of Indian officials Do often Suppress the protests. At least one protester died.

On Twitter, supporters of the Indian Indian nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the protesting farmers “terrorists” and encouraged the police to conduct brutal acts against them. “They are not farmers. They are worms, wearing a farmer’s mask,” one of the viral tweets read, using the hashtag “#shoot”. Another tweet said: “Requesting @AmitShah# to shoot and meet is the only option.” This tweet marked the Indian Minister of the Interior and Modi’s right-hand man in charge of law and order in the country.

The editor of the pro-government propaganda blog “beat them with a baton, Delhi police” Tweet In Hindi. “We are with you.”

On Tuesday morning, “shooting” is one of the most popular topics on the Indian platform. In addition to “Dilli Police lath bajao” (Dilli Police lath hoodie) in Hindi, it also means “Derry Police, Hit them with a truncheon.”

“Shooting” stayed in the “Trends” section of Indian Twitter for at least a few hours. It disappeared after public outcry and BuzzFeed News requested comments via email. The company also deleted the blog editor’s tweets, saying it violated Twitter’s rules and suspended her account for 12 hours. Nevertheless, the phrase Hindi, which encourages police to use batons, has become a hot topic for at least another hour. After searching for “#shoot”, hundreds of tweets were found asking the police to shoot the protesters.

“We have taken steps today to protect conversations about our services from being tried Incite violence, abuse with Threat May cause the following risks Offline damage“, a Twitter spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. “Our team will Strong execution Act wisely and fairly on content, trends, tweets and accounts that violate the following: Twitter rules.We strongly encourage everyone in the service to be familiar with Twitter rules and report Anything they think violates. We are closely monitoring the situation and remain vigilant. “

A day later, Twitter issued a new statement stating that it suspended more than 300 accounts for spam and platform manipulation. The company said: “We are closely monitoring the situation and remain vigilant, and strongly encourage service personnel to report any content that they believe violates the regulations.”

In the United States, multiple technology platforms Including Twitter Earlier this month, supporters of former President Donald Trump swept the U.S. Capitol, permanently banning the platform from serving as president. Because of the danger of further violence, Trump was barred from entering the platform. Tweet Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s head of law, policy, and trust and security.Last year, the company Warning label In an article by the former president about the Minneapolis protests:[When] The robbery began, and the shooting began. “

But experts believe that Silicon Valley companies like Twitter and Facebook have Double standard When implementing your own policies on a global scale. In non-Western countries like India, India has been falling into authoritarianism under the rule of Modi’s government for the past few years, and technology platforms often move slowly or slowly. Don’t take action Those who oppose using it as a weapon to cause real-world harm.

For example, last year, Twitter sent out dozens of tweets Du Xing Indian-Muslim couples with different beliefs stayed on the platform until BuzzFeed News asked the company about them.In December last year, protesters gathered outside Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, saying that the social network Review content Posted in protest against Indian farmers. And the Wall Street Journal Reported Ankhi Das, Facebook’s top executive in India, prevented the company from taking action against Modi party politicians who posted malicious comments, saying that doing so would harm the company’s commercial interests.

“Powerful stakeholders all over the world know that Silicon Valley tools can be used to create a bonfire of human rights, but only when platforms receive attention will they receive negative media coverage,” Reset’s advocacy director, technology policy non-profit organization Alaphia Zoyab aims to tell BuzzFeed News about the solution to the information crisis caused by the technology platform.

She added: “When Silicon Valley has to choose between protecting business interests or protecting human rights, they will choose the former.” “The truth is that their current business model is fundamentally incompatible with democracy and freedom, because in A determined army of trolls in the camp of those in power will only hijack platforms that demand violence.”

Gadde did not respond to a request for comment, and Twitter declined to answer whether India permanently bans accounts that encourage violence.