The stand off between @Twitter and the #Indian government is symptomatic of a shrinking space for dissent. In an early response they temporarily blocked a respected news outlet and several voices of peasants, indigenous peoples and other classes of protected characteristics. 1/14

Now Twitter has blocked a number of accounts from viewing in India, including that of a sitting member of parliament, after committing not to block politicians, activists and media. Political dissent and independent media need, primarily, to engage with their home audiences. 2/14

Twitter needs to offer a neutral, level playing field for all political actors, with the same set of norms across markets, rather than faciliate repression of democratic dissent. In the US they de-platform a sitting President, and in #India they are open to bullying? 3/14

This is particularly disturbing now, in the context of a crisis of #democracy in #India, with the current #FarmerProtests and widespread disaffection among religious and cultural minorities, youth and students, in academia and in the independent media. 4/14

Historically a site of debate and dissent, Twitter is enabling state crackdown on political dissent in #India while pro-state paid trolls and bots mobilize lynch mobs, threaten ethnic violence and sexually harass women defying law and the platform’s stated community norms. 5/14

Users of @TwitterIndia, much as social media users anywhere, expect safety. They do not expect to face trolling and abuse, as women, activists, academicians, journalists, Dalit, Adivasi, religious monitories, LGBTQIA and persons with vulnerabilities routinely face in #India. 6/14

Twitter India has allowed users, including verified handles with large followings, incite violence and hatred against religions and cultures and spread fake news with impunity, in violation of law and its stated community standards. Do safety and civility vary by market? 7/14

Hate speech, fake news, incitement to violence and targeted abuse, including sexual abuse, on @TwitterIndia is contrary to universally accepted standards of #democracy and #RuleOfLaw and violates both the #ConstitutionOfIndia and international law. 8/14

Tech platforms are responsible for the safety of women, children, minorities and vulnerable people, and also for neutrality and an even playing field. 9/14

These are within their contractual obligation with their users and their legal and ethical mandate. Twitter cannot abdicate its responsibility. 9/14

The least one expects of @TwitterSF and @TwitterSafety is that they rigorously and uniformly enforce their own community rules. This might include blocking harmful hashtags and de-platforming powerful users to preserve these standards. #SaveTheNet 10/14

We expect red flags escalated to trained humans. The best algorithm could miss insinuations that a user in India would interpret. For a politically volatile market like #India, with endemic cultural and sexual violence, @Twitter needs to acquire cultural competence. 11/14

As an elected official, Rep @RoKhanna, we expect you do have strong views on this. Especially, given your broad engagement with Human Rights, your advocacy of net neutrality, and that you have been active at the interface of internet technology, law and ethics. 12/14

Rep @RoKhanna, as Twitter is in your district, we solicit you to talk this through with @jack and their corporate leadership. I’m also marking this to your peers in the Congress for wider discussion. 13/14

‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ @BernieSanders @SenBlumenthal @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenJeffMerkley @SenSchumer @SpeakerPelosi @RepJayapal @RepDianaDeGette @RepRashida @AOC @CoriBush @JamaalBowmanNY 14/14