Actor Kangana Ranaut’s Twitter account has been permanently suspended after a controversial tweet related to the post-election violence reported in Bengal.
Twitter found the actor’s account to be in repeated violation of company policy on hateful conduct. A company spokesperson said, “Weve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm.”
Twitter had earlier taken brief action against the actor’s account, making it read-only, when Ms. Ranaut had posted what the company considered ‘incendiary comments’ about scenes in a web series she considered as ‘hurting religious sentiments.’
In the tweet that appears to have resulted in the account suspension, the actor seems to urge the government to “tame” West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee using his “Virat Roop” from “early 2000s” in a reaction to journalist-BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta’s comments on the violence in Bengal post election results, Sunday.
The elections have seen lowering standards of discourse, clashes and arson, when Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress registered a landslide victory – both the BJP and TMC have been exchanging barbs over the violence.
Ms. Ranaut has always been in the news for her no-holds-barred approach on social media, many of which have been perceived as provocative. The actor appeared unfazed by the new developments and backlash leading to her account suspension, citing the use of other media, including her cinema, to voice her opinion.