PM Narendra Modi quits Chinese social media platform Weibo, deletes account

Two days after banning 59 Chinese apps over national security concerns, Prime Minister Narendra Modi deletes his account on Chinese social media app Weibo that had almost 2.44 lakh followers.

Sources privy to the development said that PM Modi decided that he would be quitting Weibo the moment the country announced the ban on 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, Weibo, Shareit, CamScanner, among others.

PM Modi had joined Weibo a few years ago. The PM had 115 posts on Weibo. It was decided to manually delete them and after much effort 113 posts were removed, reported a news agency.

Weibo is considered the Chinese equivalent of the microblogging platform Twitter.

All posts, pictures and comments on PM Modi's Weibo account have been deleted, including two posts where he had pics with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to reports, there was a great delay in the deletion of PM Modi's account from Weibo's end as for VIP accounts, Weibo has a more complex procedure to quit which is why the official process was initiated. "For reasons best known to the Chinese, there was great delay in granting this basic permission," sources told news agency IANS.

'The message is loud and clear': Amit Malviya

Reacting to the development, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya tweeted, "Prime Minister Modi quits Chinese social media platform Weibo. The message is loud and clear. If red lines are crossed, there will be consequences...

What started at the borders has now acquired multiple dimensions. And it may just be the beginning..."

BJP's General Secretary, Organisation BL Santosh also took to Twitter and wrote: "After the government's move of banning 59 Chinese apps, PM Modi exits from Chinese social media platform Weibo also... Strong message at the border, on the economic front & at personal level too."

Earlier in June, Chinese social media platforms removed PM Modi's speech and India's official statements on the Ladakh border face-off. PM Modi's June 18 remarks about the Galwan Valley situation became inaccessible to users on social media app WeChat.

PM Modi's remarks came in the aftermath of the worst stand-off in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in which 20 Indian troops died on June 15. However, the Chinese side has not yet revealed the number of casualties on its side.

Also, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Anurag Srivastava's statement on the border conflict was also removed from the official WeChat account.

A message on WeChat read: "Unable to view this content because it violates regulations."