Blocking of FB’s #ResignModi triggers outrage amid Centre's denial

The reported blocking of hashtag ResignModi sparked a controversy on Thursday (April 29). Facebook first blocked posts tagged #ResignModi, but then restored them hours later, amid a row over government requests to remove social media content as India grapples with an unprecedented Covid crisis.

The government said on Thursday (April 29) that the reported request to block the hashtag was “misleading” and “mischievous”, strongly denying that it directed Facebook to do so.

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“A story by Wall Street Journal attributing removal of a certain hashtag by Facebook to GOI’s efforts to curb public dissent is misleading on facts and mischievous in intent,” the government said in a statement. “The government has not issued any direction to remove this hashtag. Facebook has also clarified that it was removed by mistake,” it said.

The government referred to a Wall Street Journal report on March 5 that it said was “completely fake” and manufactured.

Facebook said it barred the hashtag by mistake and not at the behest of the government, without elaborating. A Facebook spokesperson said the “error” stemmed from content associated with the label and not the hashtag itself.

“It is pertinent to mention that on 5th March 2021 also, Wall Street Journal had published a fake news with heading ‘India threatens jail for Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter employees’. Government had sent an official rebuttal of this completely fake and manufactured story to Wall Street Journal,” the statement said.

“Media has a very important role to play in acting as a force multiplier to the efforts of our front-line workers and medical professionals. At a sensitive time like this, we would urge the media to partner with crores of ordinary Indians as we collectively fight the pandemic.”

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The blocking which continued for hours came ahead of the final phase of elections in West Bengal and deleted posts that called for Prime Minister Modi to resign. This year, India came up with new rules that require social media platforms to quickly take down unlawful content, sparking a debate over freedom of speech.

The country has been hit hard by a fresh wave of the pandemic. There are shortages of all kinds – from drugs and hospital beds to oxygen and to shortage of firewood for the funeral of victims whose number has not shown any signs of abating. For several days the country has reported over 3 lakh new infections every day. Social media platforms are flooded with requests for help.

Earlier this year, Twitter had to permanently suspend more than 500 accounts and block access to hundreds of others in India, acceding to a government order to restrain the spread of misinformation and inflammatory content related to farmers’ protests.