The White House on Wednesday explained why it took the step that led to a massive social media uproar in India

by - Msdupdates on - 30.4.20

Hours after unfollowing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ramnath Kovind on Twitter, the White House on Wednesday explained why it took the step that led to a massive social media uproar in India.

White House informed that it follows the accounts of officials from host countries for a brief period during a presidential trip to retweet their messages in support of the visit.

White House said that it had started following the accounts of President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister's office, the Indian Embassy in the US, the US Embassy in India, and the US Ambassador to India, Ken Juster, when President Trump was supposed to visit India, Livemint reported citing media agency.

However, according to a report by the News18, White House had started following Indian accounts from its official handle -- @WhiteHouse -- three weeks ago i.e. on April 10.

According to a senior official quoted in the agency report, "The White House Twitter account normally follows senior US government Twitter accounts, and others as appropriate. For example, during the time of a presidential visit, the account typically follows for a short time, the host country's officials to retweet their messages in support of the visit."

After White House unfollowed Twitter accounts of President Kovind and PM Modi, Twitter remained abuzz in India.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took to Twitter and tweeted on Wednesday: "I'm dismayed by the "unfollowing" of our President & PM by the White House. I urge the Ministry of External Affairs to take note."

The views expressed in this article are the writer's, they do not reflect the views of Opera News.

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