Continuing with the Government’s campaign for self-reliance in the digital sphere, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Tuesday came out in support of Koo, the Indian social media platform. The year-old microblogging platform has around 1.5 crore users and has found steady progress mainly because of the support from the Government.
“Be the first one to know about exclusive ministerial developments. Follow Minister @PiyushGoyal on Koo: kooapp.com/profile/piyushgoyal,” said Mr. Goyal in a message on Koo where he has 1.5 million followers.
The Narendra Modi Government had begun by collaborating with social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter but over the years western social media outlets have come under scrutiny and raids in the context of the fact that they have often given space to critical voices. The farmers agitation, for example, used Twitter to propagate their cause throughout the year-long protest that began in November 2020.
The announcement also syncs with the Government’s push for self-reliance or Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign which has been promoting Indian-made brands and products. In recent years, western or U.S.-based social media giants have found themselves in difficult circumstances in big economies such as India and Russia. China which has a home grown social media giant in Weibo officially blocked Twitter.
Both India and Russia, on the other hand, had begun by sponsoring Twitter but over the years both countries have tightened rules. Russia has passed a bill in the Duma which gives Moscow power to block Twitter and YouTube. Twitter, currently led by India-born Parag Agrawal, has been under parliamentary scrutiny with Mr. Goyal himself leading the charge in the past. In comparison, Koo has maintained a relatively non-controversial relation with the Modi Government since its inception in 2020. In February the microblogging site raised $4.1 million from the global market.
