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Online trolling debate in RS: When Smriti Irani came to rescue of a common man after Derek O'Brien's allegations

Smriti Irani hit out at Derek O'Brien for naming an individual in the Upper House of Parliament.

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Derek O'Brien and Smriti Irani
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On Thursday, TMC MP Derek O’Brien on Thursday hit out at PM Modi claiming he encouraged 'hatred' by following people who ran 'hate' campaigns on social media. Derek O’Brien said: “26 Twitter handles that give out rape threats, communal threats are followed by the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi.”

The TMC leader claimed that two accounts that were suspended by Twitter and yet the PM followed these ‘Twitter trolls, paid handles’. One of the handles he referred to was Rahul Raj whose Twitter handle is @Bhaksala. Reacting to O’Brien’s claims, Raj tweeted that he had never met the PM and his account had never been suspended. He wrote on Twitter: “After these wild & nasty allegations by @quizderek, I feel threatened as a common man. Parliament should protect common men, not scare them.”

Many Twitter users also spoke up in support of Rahul Raj. Meanwhile, Union Minister Smriti Irani also rebutted Derek O’Brien in parliament, urging the speaker to expunge the names. She said: “An individual was named yesterday by my colleague Derek O'Brien, that individual is not a politician, not a celebrity...he's a common citizen who has the right to free speech but does not enjoy the privilege of this house."

She added, "As the convention of this house, I am beseeching you, kindly expunge the name of an individual as you've done on many occasions so the individual who cannot defend himself do so."

While Irani didn’t name anymore, her gesture drew a thank you on Twitter from Rahul who wrote: “Thanks a lot @smritiirani ma'am. Thanks a lot. You spoke for the millions of commoners like me.”

Rahul Raj later added tweeted later that he would be taking a break from social media.

 

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