Actor Kangana Ranaut’s Twitter account has been permanently suspended after a controversial tweet related to the post-election result violence in Bengal. The account repeatedly violated Twitter policy on “hateful conduct and abusive behavior”, the social media site said today.
The 34-year-old actor, unfazed, accused Twitter of race bias. “I have many platforms I can use to raise my voice, including my own art in the form of cinema,” she told news agency ANI.
In the tweet that appears to have spurred this action, the actor seems to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “tame” Mamata Banerjee using his “Virat Roop” from “early 2000s” in Bengal. She was reacting to a tweet by journalist-BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta on the violence in Bengal since election results were announced on Sunday; Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress – which won a landslide victory – and the BJP have blamed each other for the clashes and arson.
Kangana Ranaut’s tweet sparked outrage and calls for action against the strident actor, whose timeline is filled with vitriolic posts.
“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior 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,” a Twitter spokesperson said, adding that the rules were applied judiciously and impartially to all.
“As explained in our abusive behaviour policy, you may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. We consider abusive behavior an attempt to harass, intimidate, or silence someone else’s voice.”
Kangana Ranaut is notorious for her outrageous, no-filter posts on social media, many of which are provocative calls to action.
The actor also posted a rant on her Instagram account earlier today.
In the teary-eyed harangue, she talks about “disturbing news, videos and photos from Bengal of people being murdered, gang-raped and their houses being burnt”. She also calls for President’s Rule in the state, criticising a “government that I support” for not doing more than dharnas in response to the clashes.
