Anurag Kashyap’s Twitter followers drop drastically, leaves many baffled online

The 47-year-old director came back to Twitter after the attack on Jamia students and ever since then he has been critical of the government after the passage of the amended Citizenship Act.

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Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap returned to Twitter after a four-month hiatus. (Source: Instagram/anuragkashyap).

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap came out of his self-imposed hiatus on Twitter following the police crackdown on Jamia students. Against the backdrop of the controversial citizenship law, Kashyap expressed solidarity with the protesting students and publicly criticise the legislation. And amid all these, the director-producer on Saturday said that his followers have drastically dropped to 76.3K from over 5 lakh.

Tagging Twitter India on the platform, the director wrote while sharing a screenshot of his follower count, “And @TwitterIndia has drastically reduced my followers ..”

And @TwitterIndia has drastically reduced my followers .. pic.twitter.com/hHziSZk9tK

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) December 21, 2019

Soon after he tweeted, many users on the platform who previously followed Kashyap shared a screenshot from their account and asked Twitter “how did this get unfollowed?” Many replied to his post, saying they can confirm that they had never unfollowed him yet his profile does not appear on their “following list suddenly”.

Many tagged the official handle of the social media platform asking why and how it happened. Others slammed Twitter for it and wondered if the platform was “silencing those protesting against NRC and CAA”.

How did @anuragkashyap72 lost more than 450K followers ?

@TwitterIndia is it because of his political stand againt Modi ? pic.twitter.com/yX3LK0P2BS

— Abhijeet Dipke 🇮🇳 (@abhijeet_dipke) December 21, 2019

I did not unfollow @anuragkashyap72 yet something happened. What is going on @TwitterIndia? Now followed him back. pic.twitter.com/xgdUO4xq6h

— Ankur Bhardwaj (@Bhayankur) December 21, 2019

WTF, I was following you. Just checked right now and your account got unfollowed by mine automatically. What’s happening @TwitterIndia

— Dr. Safin (@HasanSafin) December 21, 2019

Just noticed you’ve been cut out of my following list suddenly. Can confirm.

— Shilpa Rathnam (@shilparathnam) December 21, 2019

Same here.. i was following him. What the actual fu* 😲 pic.twitter.com/w8FKWzLI6M

— PratsD (@pratsd) December 21, 2019

Did Twitter decide to unfollow @anuragkashyap72 on my behalf?!

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Is it a way to silence those who are speaking up on #CAA_NRC_Protests? pic.twitter.com/yXJj9VU91Y

— Rwitoban (@rwitoban) December 21, 2019

526k to 79k dafuqqqq pic.twitter.com/UL71hszhIA

— Sandeep Singh Baghel 👽 (@yononsensedude) December 21, 2019

@anuragkashyap72 i was a follower of Anurag Kashyap! @TwitterSupport and @TwitterIndia please tell me how, I unfollowed him? Are u working for the Govt of India? pic.twitter.com/E6HAsr5S16

— N Sai Balaji (@nsaibalaji) December 21, 2019

This has happened to me too. Until today afternoon, I was following @anuragkashyap72 . Just check after seeing the post below, and I am no longer a follower. Just followed him again.

This is shameful @jack @twitter.

Cc @raju @sree @AmyKazmin @vindugoel @mattburgess1 https://t.co/e36fVruYWQ

— Nikhil Pahwa , https://mstdn.social/@nixxin (@nixxin) December 21, 2019

@TwitterIndia We’re aware beings. We know when something’s off. #AnuragKashyap will be followed for his stand against fascism. Over and over again if need be.

— RJ (@drRainJ) December 21, 2019

Hey @Twitter @TwitterSupport are you using any kind of algorithm which can remove someone from my following list without asking me,even without letting me know ?! #AnuragKashyap pic.twitter.com/7hnbRS8O4G

— Bhupender Choudhary (@Bhupend96400635) December 21, 2019

Ever since his return to Twitter, the director has been very critical of the BJP, various ministers and the police calling out them on social media for their actions against the CAA and NRC protesters and arrests.

In his comeback tweet, The Gangs of Wasspur director condemning the ongoing tension wrote, “This has gone too far.. can’t stay silent any longer. This government is clearly fascist .. and it makes me angry to see voices that can actually make a difference stay quiet ..”

This has gone too far.. can’t stay silent any longer . This government is clearly fascist .. and it makes me angry to see voices that can actually make a difference stay quiet ..

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) December 16, 2019

The 47-year-old director quit the platform in August, citing threats to parents and daughter. In a farewell tweet, he wrote, “Wish you all the happiness and success. This would be my last tweet as I leave twitter. When I won’t be allowed to speak my mind without fear then I would rather not speak at all. Goodbye.”