After quitting Facebook three years ago, Apurva Asrani has now got off Twitter. In his last tweet before deleting his account, the screenwriter cited rising pressure to conform as the reason.

“I find that Twitter is increasingly polarized into black or white. Various groups demand exclusive membership and you have to pick a side. Truth is often compromised to maintain association and you have to keep mum about certain opinions that don’t gel well with your support group,” Asrani tells us.

Not that the 45-year-old, who has written acclaimed projects such as the 2015 film Aligarh and the OTT series Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, is scared of expressing himself or of backlash.

“I can’t do selective truth and my candid opinion is, at times, perceived as hurtful. It’s not that I fear upsetting people — you can’t please everyone all the time. As a conscientious writer, my opinions need deeper research and follow-ups that Twitter’s ‘fastest finger first’ culture doesn’t permit,” explains the writer, who has decided to reserve his “views for a film, series or an article”.

Asrani, who’s now only on Instagram, adds, “Our society is going through a churning that is reflected on Twitter. Also, more than anything, I need time and distance to nurture my soul and to incubate important stories that I want to tell.”