Twitter labels some Indian politicians tweets about COVID-19 as manipulated media

India’s government has criticized Twitter for applying its “manipulated media” label to some Indian politicians’ tweets about COVID-19 efforts, and TechCrunch and Indian news media outlets reported Friday. The government has asked Twitter to remove the tags out of “fairness and equity,” saying the application of the labels affects the platform’s image as “neutral and unbiased.”

The government sent the notice to Twitter two days after it applied the “manipulated media” label to a tweet by Sambit Patra, of India’s ruling BJP party. Patra said in the tweet, which appears to have been deleted (it’s not clear whether Twitter removed it or if Patra deleted it himself), that opposition party Congress had used a “toolkit” in attempts to subvert...

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