Imagine having almost a hundred thousand followers. Imagine being the sister of a renowned Bollywood actor? Now imagine what kind of influence your words have and the impact that could follow?
Recently, Kangana Ranaut’s sister, Rangoli Chandel tweeted claims that the family of a Tablighi Jamaat member, who died of the coronavirus infection, had attacked police and doctors, a rumour that has already been proven wrong here.
The tweet in question is here (thank God for screenshots, right?)
Of course this led to backlash, as it should, with several people reporting the account including big names like Farah Khan.
Twitter has taken action and suspended the verified account which had over 95,000 followers, which followed a statement form Chandel on yet another platform stating, “Twitter is an American platform absolutely biased and anti-India, you can make fun of Hindu Gods call Prime Minister and Home Minister terrorists but if you say anything about people pelting stones on health workers and police forces, they suspend your account, I have no desire of empowering any such platforms with my perspective and honest opinions, so I am not reviving my account, I was my sister’s spokesperson now watch out for her direct interviews, she is a huge star she has many ways of reaching out, a biased platform can be easily avoided.”
It is no secret Kangana Ranaut is also outspoken, but will she learn from this or will we see more ill informed, ignorant posts?