Twitter has suspended the account of Mohammed Asif Khan, a Muslim activist and social media influencer who actively speaks about hate crimes and Hindu mob lynchings against Muslims, and Islamophobia in India.
The suspension of the popular account accused of violating the rules of micro-blogging site has stirred significant opposition, against the social media giant that had initiated the suspension.
“Specifically, for: Violating our rules against ban evasion. You may not circumvent a Twitter suspension, enforcement action, or anti-spam challenge. This includes any behavior intended to evade any Twitter remediation, such as creating a new account or repurposing an already existing account,” read a gmail message from Twitter to Asif Khan.
Asif, who has more than 80,000 followers on his Twitter handle said that on Friday morning he got a message from his friend that his account has been suspended.
“I think twitter has suspended me by mistake, I have filed an appeal , now I am waiting for their response, I hope my account will be reinstated,” Asif told Maktoob.
Asif’s last tweet before suspension was about the UP Police arrest of the Muslim scholar under state’s draconian anti-conversion law.
Responding to the news, activist Saket Gokhale said that it is a matter of great shock and concern.
“Asif is a very important voice who has consistently been documenting communal atrocities against minorities and has also been a frequent target of BJP. His account MUST be restored,” read Gokhale’s tweet.
Earlier in 2020 January too, Asif Khan’s Twitter account was suspended for comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi with German politician and leader of the Nazi Party Adolf Hitler.
In February this year, Asif Khan’s Twitter account was withheld in India in response to a “legal demand” from India government, along several accounts including the handles of activist Hansraj Meena, Caravan magazine and Kisan Ekta Morcha, a joint front representing the farmers protesting against the Centre’s agricultural laws.
