How #BlockNarendraModi gave BJP a reality check on perils of social media

On Thursday, the hashtag, #BlockNarendraModi, trended on Twitter. The hashtag was started to oppose trolls who abused slain journalist Gauri Lankesh and are being followed by PM Narendra Modi.

New Delhi, Sep 8: It seems the entire country is being run by the micro-blogging site, Twitter (at least by what we have seen in the last few days since the brutal murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh).

If you are on Twitter (which you must be, otherwise you are considered dead. Isn't it?), you must have seen all important decisions and policies impacting the lives and deaths of people are actually first taking place on Twitter and then all these life-changing theories percolating down to the real world.

That is why immediately after unidentified assailants shot dead the 55-year-old journalist-activist at her home in Bengaluru on Tuesday evening, Twitterati told us who actually "killed her".

The irony is that the Bengaluru Police is yet to get any clues about the murderers of the firebrand editor. But Twiterrati (as usual out of their "I know all" habit) are insisting that either the goons of right-wings groups or the Naxals have snuffed out the life of the journalist-activist for writing the truth without fearing anyone.

Along with the theorists, there were many, who mourned the death of Lankesh calling it the "murder of democracy", "attack on freedom of speech" and "creation of atmosphere of hatred and bigotry in society".

There were also surprisingly many who celebrated her death. Imagine these days Indians are not only celebrating uncountable number of festivals, but also deaths of people and that too murders. If this is not horrific, then we don't know what it is.

In fact, many of the abusers, who used profane language to justify Lankesh's murder and celebrate it at the same time, are being followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter.

Thus, those on the other side of the fence immediately highlighted the fact that PM should block those trolls who gloat at the fact that they are being followed by him and don't shy away from using cuss words like "bitch" to address an upright and honest journalist who has been just assassinated.

As Modi and his team did not pay any heed to the suggestion of critics of trolls and PM's twitter account @narendramodi continued to follow the "haters", on Thursday a section of Twitterati decided to trend the hashtag-- #BlockNarendraModi.

By trending the hashtag, Twitter users asked others to block PM's account which will result in reducing the number of followers Modi has on the micro-blogging site. In fact, Modi is one of the world's most followed leaders on Twitter.

At the time of filing of this report on Friday, Modi had 33.8 million followers and the PM himself followed 1,779 people on Twitter. It is among these 1,779 people whom Modi follows; a couple of them have celebrated the murder of Lankesh and maligned her at the same time.

Since, many decided to block Modi's account supporting the hashtag, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started feeling the heat of outrage against the PM's "silence" on trolls.

Several supporters of the BJP criticised the attempt to block PM's account and alleged that it was a campaign by the opposition parties. Others claimed that Modi's following had gone up at more than the usual rate after the block campaign began.

A Twitter user called @bhaiyyajispeaks tweeted: "Follower count of Namo before #BlockNarendraModi: 33,719,412. Follower count of Namo after 4 hours: 33,764,365. Keep Blocking Guys!"

In fact, initially it was journalists like Ravish Kumar who had asked Modi to unfollow the trolls who had abused Lankesh and celebrated her death.

"A person called Nikhil Dadhich, who is followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter, wrote that all the pups were raging against the death of a dog. Will the Prime Minister care to explain what is his compulsion behind following such people?'' asked journalist Kumar, during a meeting to protest the killing of Lankesh in Delhi on Wednesday.

After a whirlpool day, the BJP decided to give its official version on the entire controversy. Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP's information technology cell, issued a statement in the evening, terming the controversy over the PM following Twitter users as "mischievous and contorted".

"PM Modi is the only leader who freely engages with people on social media platforms. He follows normal people and frequently interacts with them on various issues. He is a rare leader who truly believes in freedom of speech and has never blocked or unfollowed anyone on Twitter," the statement said.

The statement added, "PM following someone is not a character certificate of a person and is not in any way a guarantee of how a person would conduct himself."

Malviya's statement also attacked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. "However, the PM also follows Rahul Gandhi, who is an accused in loot and fraud. PM also follows Arvind Kejriwal, who abused him on Twitter and told a woman 'settle kar lo' when she complained of a party member molesting her." The AAP has denied the charge labelled by the BJP.

The entire episode is a clear message to the PM and his social media team, which over the years has succeeded in wooing millions to support Modi both online and offline, that the virtual world is a tricky one and one needs to tread carefully.

The same social media that helped the BJP build the "brand Modi" might one day break the entire 'online castle' if it does not listen to the voices of dissent.

It might be true that Modi managed to attract more followers after the #BlockNarendraModi trended on Twitter, but the anti-Modi hashtag also persuaded many to block the PM. A lesson worth remembering for the BJP.

OneIndia News