The official Facebook page of Akhilesh Yadav, president of the Samajwadi Party (SP), was shut down on Friday night. This led to a strong political backlash from his party, which promptly blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government for the action.
According to media, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh had his account, which has more than eight million followers, suspended around 6 PM. The page was Yadav’s main way of sharing his political views, criticizing what he saw were the government’s flaws, and talking directly to his supporters all around the state.
The Reason for the Suspension
The Samajwadi Party was quick to blame the government, but sources close to the situation said the political claims were false and that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, made the decision, not the government.
These sources say that the page was suspended because it allegedly uploaded a “violent sexual post,” which goes against the community rules of the platform.
The Samajwadi Party is against the move.
The Samajwadi Party quickly and severely decried the suspension, calling it an attack on free speech and democratic values.
Fakhrul Hasan Chaand, a spokesperson for the SP, went on “X” (formerly Twitter) to say how angry the party was: “Suspending the Facebook account of respected Akhilesh Yadav ji, the national president of the country’s third-largest party, is an attack on democracy.” The BJP government has put an undeclared emergency in place, and they are silencing everyone who speaks out against them. He said that the party would keep fighting the BJP’s “anti-people policies.”
Rajeev Rai, the National Secretary of the Samajwadi Party, agreed with this and said that blocking Yadav’s account was “not only wrong but also a blow to India’s democratic system.” Rai asked the BJP directly if they were involved, saying, “If this was done at the request of the ruling party, it shows cowardice.” It’s wrong to try to silence socialists.
SP MLA Pooja Shukla also condemned Facebook for acting without warning or notice to a page that represented a major political leader and the voice of millions. Shukla told the platform to “remember its limits” and said that this kind of hubris in silencing democracy will not be accepted.