Don't take actions based on political views: Twitter

New Delhi: Faced with allegations of being politically biased in India, Twitter Friday said it believes in impartiality and does not take any actions, such as blocking of accounts, based on political views.

Twitter, which has been accused by supporters of the ruling BJP of being biased against the right-wing, said "abuse and hateful conduct comes from accounts across the ideological spectrum" and it will continue to take action when rules are broken.

Explaining how trending topics on Twitter work, the US-based microblogging platform said the velocity or the number of tweets in a given time period and not the total number of tweets decides what is trending.

The statement by Twitter comes days before its representatives are set to appear before a Parliamentary panel on information technology, which is perceived to have issued the summons to it as a reaction to concerns of supporters of the ruling dispensation.

The committee head and BJP MP Anurag Thakur on February 5 had tweeted about the agenda of the February 11 meeting as examining the issue of "safeguarding citizens' rights on social/online news media platforms". Members of Youth for Social Media Democracy, a right-wing group, had protested outside its office alleging that Twitter has acquired an "anti-right-wing attitude" and has been blocking their accounts. In its statement on Friday, Twitter asserted that the company "does not take any actions based upon political views or viewpoints", neither does it use political ideology to rank content on its service.

"There has been a lot of discussion about Twitter and political bias in India in recent weeks and the global real time communication platform today set the record straight... Twitter is a platform where voices from across the spectrum can be seen and heard. It is committed to the principles of openness, transparency, and impartiality," it added.

The US-based company argued that the content that appears in users' timelines or the manner in which the company enforces its policies are impartial, and that it is "committed to remain unbiased with public interest in mind".

"Twitter's product and policies are never developed nor evolved on the basis of political ideology... Abuse and hateful conduct comes from accounts across the ideological spectrum and Twitter will continue to take action when its rules are broken," it added.

Twitter, which counts India among its biggest markets, said it has a specialised, global team that enforces its rules with impartiality and that its India employees do not make enforcement decisions –which "by design" ensures fairness and objectivity. "Twitter does not review, prioritise, or enforce its policies on the basis of political ideology. Every Tweet and every account is treated impartially. We apply our policies fairly and judiciously for all," Twitter Global VP (Public Policy) Colin Crowell said.