LONDON: India’s pro-government social networking service Koo has risen to prominence on the country’s social media scene after months of disputes between Indian authorities and technology companies, including Twitter and Facebook.
Koo recently witnessed a raft of Indian Cabinet ministers, government agencies, and right-wing celebrities opening accounts to support the homegrown app, in the process bringing millions of followers with them.
According to its co-founder, Aprameya Radhakrishna, the platform, with its bird logo and scrolling feeds of 400-character posts, had positioned itself as something more “nationalistic and populist” and was becoming increasingly popular among users in India.
One reason, he said, was that the app catered for native languages such as Hindi, unlike Twitter that was dominated by English. And he pointed out that Koo would never defy a government order to take down content, or censor and even silence a national leader.
Although unlikely to overtake Twitter anytime soon, Koo has offered a more-pliant, social media alternative that has been embraced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing supporters.
Earlier this year, the Indian government became embroiled in a feud with social media giants, such as Twitter and Facebook, over what it claimed was the firms’ failure to comply with legal rules which the companies argued went against freedom of speech and expression.
In May, New Delhi police visited two Twitter offices to seek more information about the firm’s rationale in labeling a tweet by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson as “manipulated media.”
After months of argument, Twitter began complying with some of the rules after veiled threats that tech companies may no longer be allowed to operate in the country.
In August, Twitter blocked the official account of India’s largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress, in a move that the ruling government claimed was an “act of respecting the country’s law.”
