US Official Explains Why The White House Unfollowed PM Modi, President Kovind On Twitter

A senior official from United States (US) President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday (29 April) explained the reason why The White House official Twitter handle had unfollowed Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi among other Twitter accounts, India Today has reported.

The White House has a procedure regarding following the officials from a host country for a short period of time during a presidential visit to retweet their posts.

During US President Trump’s maiden official India visit in the last week of February this year, the White House had followed the Twitter accounts of President Kovind, PM 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.

However, all these accounts were unfollowed earlier this week which created a social media uproar in India as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, making it a prestige issue, said he was “dismayed” on this. Gandhi also asked the Ministry of External Affairs to take a note of the development.

The senior official, who did not wish to be named, told news agency PTI regarding the procedure the White House follows.

“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,” said the official.

As of Wednesday, the White House had 22 million followers on the micro-blogging site.