Facebook briefly suspended and then restored the page of Kisan Ekta Morcha (KEM) after social media outrage on Sunday evening. The tech giant admitted to TOI that it had removed the Facebook page, saying it regretted the inconvenience caused.
Around 7.30pm, KEM tweeted that their Facebook page was “unpublished”. The farmers collective also provided a screenshot of the page, which said, “Your page has been unpublished. This is because Kisan Ekta Morcha goes against our community standards on spam.”
“This is what they can do when people raise their voices. When they can’t beat us ideologically,” KEM wrote along with the screenshot.
This is what they can do when people raise their voices…….
When they can't beat us ideologically…….#DigitalKisan #SuppressingTheVoiceOfDissent pic.twitter.com/foK6k5zzM3
— Kisan Ekta Morcha (@Kisanektamorcha) December 20, 2020
Several farmers’ bodies have formed an informal “IT Cell” to disseminate information on the ongoing protest against the Centre’s farm laws and counter misinformation against farmers.
“They unpublished the page without any notification. We only got a pop-up around 7pm. We have just been explaining the drawbacks of the bill. How does that violate any policy?” asked Baljeet Singh Sandhu, the vice president of
Majha Kisan committee, one of the organisations which was behind forming the social media accounts of farmers. Sandhu added that Facebook restored the page only after “pressure”.
“We’ve restored Kisan Ekta Morcha’s Facebook page and regret the inconvenience caused,” a Facebook spokesperson told TOI.
The news of KEM suspension had led to a flurry of reaction on Twitter. Several users accused Facebook of stifling dissent. “The action taken by Facebook to close the Kisan Ekta Morcha requires a close look at its content moderation practices and policies. India has close to 300 million Facebook users. It’s largest market. Even then there is little transparency or accountability,” digital advocacy group Internet.
Source: Times Of India
