Facebook said that the Government of India did not ask to remove the hashtag.
Social networking giant Facebook on Wednesday reportedly blocked some posts for a brief period that called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation over the handling of COVID-19 pandemic. The company has now claimed that it 'mistakenly' blocked the posts, adding that it was not done at the behest of the government.
Several media outlets reported that Facebook temporarily hid posts with the hashtag or text #ResignModi because "some content in those posts goes against our Community Standards".
The Facebook users who tried to view the hashtag saw a message saying that Facebook was temporarily hiding the posts in order to keep the community safe.
"We temporarily blocked this hashtag by mistake, not because the Indian government asked us to, and have since restored it," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
The company said that the Government of India did not ask to remove the hashtag. It said that the block was the result of some of the content that used the hashtag, "but did not specify what kind of content".
Meanwhile, the Electronics & IT Ministry also issued a statement saying, “A Wall Street Journal story attributing removal of certain hashtag by FB to GoI‘s efforts to curb public dissent is misleading on facts & mischievous in intent. Govt hasn't issued any direction to remove the hashtag. FB clarified it was removed by mistake.”
In February, Twitter took a range of enforcement actions against certain Twitter accounts after the Indian government ordered it to take down more than 500 accounts for clear violations of its rules.
In another daily record, India reported nearly 3.8 lakh new cases and 3,645 deaths on Wednesday while 14 states and UTs recorded their highest single-day case count.
(With IANS inputs)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Facebook")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}