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India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi’s Twitter account was briefly compromised to share misleading information about a fake Bitcoin giveaway. This came just months after high-profile Twitter accounts including those of Barack Obama, Kanye West, Jeff Bezos were hit hard by scammers to lure users into making bitcoin donations.
Modi's Twitter Account Briefly Compromised by Fake Bitcoin Scammers
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal Twitter handle was restored after getting "very briefly compromised," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a tweet on Sunday. Before the account was restored, a tweet was shared on Modi's timeline with over 72.4 million followers stating that the country has adopted BTC as a legal tender and aims to distribute the coins to all residents in the country.
"India has officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender. The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them to all residents of the country."
The tweet was soon removed as Indian government officials sent out an update on Twitter announcing that the account has been secured.
In September 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal website and mobile app were hacked by an unknown group with a series of tweets asking followers to donate to a relief fund through cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrencies Can Be Used to Empower Democracy
Earlier on Saturday, PM Modi spoke about cryptocurrencies at a virtual "Summit for Democracy" hosted by US President Joe Biden, saying that emerging technologies like cryptocurrencies should be used to empower democracy, not undermine it.
"We must also jointly shape global norms for emerging technologies like social media and cryptocurrencies so that they are used to empower democracy, not to undermine it."
Earlier last month, India's government announced that it planned on introducing a bill that "seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India" and allow "for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses."
In late November, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament that the government had no plans of recognizing Bitcoin as a currency, adding that it did not collect data on domestic bitcoin transactions.