This Is Why Twitter Suspended The Account Of An 8-Year-Old Climate Activist Who Went Viral For Saying She's Not The "Greta Of India"

    Licypriya Kangujam's Twitter account was suspended for 10 hours, sparking fury online.

    Licypriya Kangujam is an 8-year-old climate activist originally from Manipur but is now based in New Delhi.

    Earlier this week, Licypriya went viral after posting a video with a Twitter thread asking the media to stop referring to her as the "Greta Thunberg of India." It was shared more than 24,000 times. The video was viewed more than 1.5 million times.

    She wrote: "Dear Media, Stop calling me 'Greta of India'. I am not doing my activism to looks like Greta Thunberg. Yes, she is one of our Inspiration & great influencer. We have common goal but I have my own identity, story. I began my movement since July 2018 even before Greta was started."

    The same video and caption were shared to Instagram.

    However, on Thursday, in the wake of going viral, Licypriya's account was suspended by Twitter with no immediate explanation of what rules she had violated, prompting fury from activists online.

    Fellow campaigners started tweeting in support of Licypriya.

    The Twitter account (@LicypriyaK) and Facebook of incredible 8-year-old climate activist Licypriya Kangujam from India has been suspended for no apparent reason! They are silencing her voice! Please speak out! #BringBackLicypriya!!! She is so amazing! https://t.co/hQascripmz

    Licypriya's mother, Bidyarani Devi Kangujam Ongbi, who runs the account since it was set up in May last year, contacted BuzzFeed News to express concern.

    This is an attempt to shut down my Climate Activist mouth by @Twitter @TwitterIndia. I will come back stronger than before. I’m really very sad. 😭😭😭 - Licypriya

    Speaking on behalf of her daughter, she said she considered Twitter's actions as an attempt to "suppress" Licypriya's movement and voice.

    She believed her daughter was unfairly singled out.

    However, the account was reinstated a few hours later and is now verified.

    OMG! I can’t believe this!!! Finally my twitter account got verified with blue tick ✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻. TOGETHER WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!!!

    Licypriya's parents said that an email from Twitter suggested they needed to update the account to "explicitly state" they are the ones running the account.

    According to Twitter's rules, you have to be at least 13 years old to set up and manage your own account if you have parental consent.

    Licy,

    They will restore the account but β€œthe bio needs to be updated to explicitly state that the account is run by the parents? This is to further prevent suspensions in the future as manage by Team Licy is a bit vague and doesn't necessarily imply that a parent or legal guardian is the curator.”

    So Licypriya is back on Twitter and 100% official.

    BuzzFeed News has reached out to Twitter for comment.