Modi decides how X works in India: Ex-CBI boss Nageswara Rao to Elon Musk

Controversial former CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) director M. Nageswara Rao has complained to Tesla and X chief Elon Musk that his account has been 'shadow-banned' on X. Addressing Musk — the billionaire who is now also special advisor to US President Donald Trump — directly on X, the 1986-batch IPS officer has also delivered a brief lecture on the workings of the BJP’s IT cell, as per a report in The Telegraph, Kolkata.

“You are an advocate of free speech, and you have often said that X will not restrict free speech. In India, Modi’s BJP operated what is called 'BJP IT Cell' which has a huge army of people and bots that literally dictates the nature of discourse on SM,” wrote Rao, who has been known as a strident right-winger for the major part of his career as an IPS officer from the Odisha cadre.

Among his more controversial social media posts was a tweet he put out in September 2020 following the death of well-known social activist Swami Agnivesh, calling the death “good riddance” and terming Agnivesh "an anti-Hindu donning saffron clothes" who "did enormous damage to Hinduism", presumably owing to Agnivesh's criticism of the BJP-led Union government's activities.

Eyebrows, therefore, have naturally been raised by the same person writing “and if any account or post criticises Modi or his party BJP or his government, it is mass reported leading to X’s algorithm imposing shadow ban on that account and preventing reach”.

Rao also implied that though Musk owns X, In India “it is Modi who gets to decide how it operates”.

The former CBI director apparently learned of the “subtle ban on his account” via the X AI app Grok.

Once considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rao was handpicked to be the interim chief of the CBI in October 2018, as its then chief Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana were locked in an open feud. Rao remained as CBI director until February 2019.

From his current activities on X, he is as much a 'Sanatan dharma' cheerleader as he has always been, allied to various right-wing organisations. However, he does appear to have distanced himself from the ruling dispensation, though the reason isn't immediately obvious.

As one user commented beneath Rao's post: “Have you stopped acting as a stooge for Sanghis and BJP supporters, or have you just stopped receiving Dalai (probably dalali -- ed.), which is why you’re now opposing them?”