In continuation with the self-reliance stance in the digital sphere, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Tuesday came out in support of Koo, the Indian social media platform. With around 1.5 crore users, the year-old microblogging platform has found steady progress mainly because of the support from the Government.

“Be the first one to know about exclusive ministerial developments. Follow Minister @PiyushGoyal on Koo: kooapp.com/profile/piyushgoyal,” said Goyal in a message on Koo where he has 1.5 million followers.

The announcement also comes in sync with the Government’s push for Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign which has been promoting Indian-made brands and products.

U.S.-based social media giants in recent years have found themselves in difficult circumstances in economies such as India and Russia. China, which has a home grown social media giant in Weibo officially blocked Twitter. The Narendra Modi Government that had initially collaborated with social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter started giving preference more to Indian grown brands in the context that the western social media outlets have often given space to critical voices.

Both India and Russia have tightened rules. Russia has passed a bill in the Duma which gives Moscow power to block Twitter and YouTube. Twitter, currently led by India-born Parag Agrawal, has been under parliamentary scrutiny with Goyal himself leading the charge in the past.

In comparison, Koo has maintained a relatively non-controversial relation with the Modi Government since its inception in 2020. In February the microblogging site raised $4.1 million from the global market.