For several hours on Sunday, Facebook’s social networking website shuttered Kisan Ekta Morcha’s page, prompting widespread criticism about what farmers claimed was an effort to muzzle their voices.
Kisan Ekta Morcha is a community of farmers, and its Facebook page, less than five days old, has drawn 75,000 followers. The organization gathers and collects data from numerous farmers’ unions and shares it on social media. Reports said his profile was reinstated nearly three hours later.
The group also issued an Instagram account ban, during which it was not permitted to upload videos or photos.
“Now this is #TooMuchDemocracy. A peaceful protest by #Kissan & @Facebook deletes @Kisanektamorcha Facebook page,” the farmers’ group tweeted.
According to Baljeet Singh, the head of the information technology cell of the community, the page was taken out of service, for breaching the community guidelines of the social media platform.
Baljeet Singh said that they had posted clips from the day before yesterday countering Narendra Modi’s statement. He added that each of his lies was countered with facts and examples. Subsequently, they started a live broadcast with {Swaraj India’s} Yogendra Yadav and in the middle of the broadcast, the page was taken down.
The shut down of the Facebook page was “shameful,” according to Bhupendra Choudhary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Haryana. He said that this is not the first time that Facebook has done anything in support of the government.
Facebook later reinstated the website after the widespread uproar. “We restored the Facebook page of Kisan Ekta Morcha (https://www.facebook.com/kisanektamorcha) and regret the inconvenience caused,” said the spokesperson for the Facebook company.
