Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien alleged Saturday that a tweet by him on the controversial BBC documentary India: The Modi Question has been deleted by Twitter. He shared an e-mail, purportedly addressed to him from the microblogging site, which said his tweet was deleted at the request of the Indian government that claimed it violated the country's laws. "CENSORSHIP. @Twitter @TwitterIndia HAS TAKEN DOWN MY TWEET of the #BBCDocumentary, it received lakhs of views," O'Brien tweeted. Claiming that the one-hour documentary "exposed how PM @narendramodi HATES MINORITIES", the parliamentarian further said: "See flimsy reason given. The opposition will continue to fight the good fight (sic)." CENSORSHIP@Twitter @TwitterIndia HAS TAKEN DOWN MY TWEET of the #BBCDocumentary, it received lakhs of views The 1 hr @BBC docu exposes how PM @narendramodi HATES MINORITIES Here’s👇the mail I recieved. Also see flimsy reason given. Oppn will continue to fight the good fight pic.twitter.com/8lfR0XPViJ — Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) January 21, 2023 The e-mail to O'Brien purportedly said: "In the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that Twitter has received a request from Indian Government regarding your Twitter account, @derekobrienmp, that claims the following content violates the laws of India. In order to comply with Twitter's obligations under India's local laws, we have withheld this content in India; the content remains available elsewhere." A day after the BBC aired the first part of the two-part documentary, focusing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s and his then state government’s response to the 2002 Gujarat riots, the Centre said it was a "propaganda piece" which lacked "objectivity" and reflected a "colonial mindset". Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in response to questions at the weekly briefing, said: "Do note that this (the documentary) has not been screened in India. So, I am only going to comment in the context of what I have heard about it and what my colleagues have seen. Let me just make it very clear that we think this is a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative."
