State IT Minister Milind Deora’s Twitter Account Has Been Suspended

This morning, Twitter users were thrilled to find that Member of Parliament Milind Deora’s Twitter account has been suspended. Many called it “poetic justice”. Earlier this week, the government ordered Internet Service Providers to block close to 300 web pages and 16 Twitter accounts, including those belonging to right-wing organisations and two journalists. In newspaper parlance, the Twitter suspension is “egg on the face” for Deora as he is the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology.

It’s unclear why Deora’s account was suspended. There’s speculation that it was a result of either a technical problem or a case of mistaken identity. One of the 16 accounts blocked is a parody of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Twitter account. It’s suspected that Deora’s account was assumed to be a fake one and blocked. Deora himself has said, somewhat enigmatically, that his account is being “verified”. What’s more likely, Twitter users have joked, is that the government actually wanted to block the false Milind Deora (who goes by the handle @Milindeora) but made a spelling error that got the genuine account suspended.

Milind Deora’s Twitter Account ‘Suspended’ [Wall Street Journal India]