Twitter suspends Koo’s user query handle

News

Microblogging site Twitter has suspended an account of the Indian microblogging platform Koo. The Twitter handle @kooeminence, which had been set up for users’ queries, was suspended on Friday.

The development came in the wake of billionaire Elon Musk-owned Twitter suspending the accounts of several prominent global journalists, including those from the New York Times, CNN and Washington Post.

Taking to Twitter, Mayank Bidawatka, co-founder of the homegrown microblogging platform said, “I forgot. There’s more! – Banning Mastodon account. – Not allowing mastodon links saying it’s unsafe. – Banning Koo’s eminence handle. I mean seriously. How much more control does the guy need?”

Mastodon is the social media rival of Twitter.

In a series of tweets, Bidawatka questioned the rationale behind suspending the @kooeminence account, which has been set up only a few days ago for queries posed by celebrities and VIPs wanting to use the Indian social media platform.

Bidwatka also listed a series of changes that Twitter has recently made, after Elon Musk took over it, and said it “isn’t a democracy”.

“Posting publicly available info isn’t doxxing. Why shoot the messenger? Journalists that posted links did nothing wrong. Posting a link to publicly available info isn’t doxxing the way posting a link to an online article isn’t plagiarism,” tweeted Mayank.

“I’ve said this before. We run Koo and the journalists should just migrate. Migrate tools are available. Koo is the best alternative to Twitter. This place is what it is because of you and millions of other users like us. Let’s not fuel this guy’s ego,” tweeted Mayank.

“We’ve never created policies out of thin air. Everything is user-focused and transparent. It’s the most inclusive platform. It’s time to take action instead of just discussing. This won’t stop here unless we make it!” tweeted Mayank.

Bidawatka said that the home-grown microblogging platform is the best alternative to Twitter.

“This place is what it is because of you and millions of other users like us. Let’s not fuel this guy’s ego,” he added.