JOIN USIs PM Modi going to give up social media accounts? Curious tweet suggests so
A tweet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's verified personal handle had a curious message on Monday night when a post said that he was thinking of exiting his social media accounts this Sunday.
"This Sunday, thinking of giving up my social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube. Will keep you all posted," the post at 8:56 PM said.
Congress former president Rahul Gandhi responded soon, "give up hatred, not social media accounts."
Modi has 53.3 million followers on Twitter, 44 million on Facebook, 35.2 million on Instagram and 4.5 million subscribers on his YouTube pages.
Before his visit to India last month, United States President Donald Trump has recently claimed that he was ahead of Modi when it comes to popularity on Facebook but subtly retracted it a few days later saying that the Prime Minister may have had an advantage over him given the "1.5 billion" population of India compared to 350 million of the US.
Modi has been one of the early bird among politicians on social media, which he had used in his reach out to people in his campaign to become the Prime Minister.
Soon after Modi's tweet, several of his admirers responded to him saying not to leave social media while his opponents asked him to first unfollow those accounts he follows, which spread fake news. Some others said they will also leave social media if he does so while "No Sir" started trending on Twitter, urging Modi not to quit social media.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted, " Respected Modi ji, Earnestly wish you would give this advice to the concerted army of trolls, who abuse-intimidate-badger-threaten others every second in your name! Sincere Regards, Citizens of India."
Another Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, "to begin with, please unfollow the hate-filled people you follow. Some of them openly worship #Godse, threaten women and propagate violence."
Youth Congress National campaign in-charge Srivatsa tweeted, "we know this your "Digital Detox" gimmick to divert attention from the Delhi violence. This is all you know to do. One gimmick after another like Good governance day, Yoga Day and now Digital Detox day. If only this much effort you had put for economy and society."
Modi's tweet also led to speculation that ranged from the imminent launch of indigenous social media platform like China's 'Weibo' to launch of a global campaign against rampant online hate speeches.