Twitter takes down 52 tweets criticizing India’s handling of the pandemic after the central government's request.

Twitter has removed 52 tweets related to the Centre's handling of the second wave of COVID-19 infections.

Twitter has removed 52 tweets related to the Centre's handling of the second wave of COVID-19 infections.India has seen a massive surge in COVID-19 cases, with many hospitals facing challenges to meet the demand for beds, oxygen, and medicines. Many had taken to Twitter to express their anguish against the government over the shortages and lack of service.

The Indian government sensing the outrage, asked Twitter to remove such posts which had content related to the shortage of medicine, beds, mass cremations, and huge crowds at Kumbh Mela. Soon after, Twitter clarified that it has received a valid legal request from the Indian government and blocked over 50 posts citing violation of rules. However, the company said that the tweets would be visible outside the country. Earlier, too, Twitter had blocked some tweets relating to farmer protests in India.

The Lumen database, which collects such requests for the removal of tweets, confirmed that Twitter has indeed blocked some tweets on request by the Indian government.