Arvind Kejriwal, national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party and former Delhi chief minister, accused Meta on August 6 of restricting one of his social media accounts in India without explanation. The allegation came a day after Meta apologized to the Indian government for temporarily removing a Facebook post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to medianama.com.
Kejriwal posted on X, tagging Meta and Meta India, questioning the restriction of his account. He said verbal enquiries at Meta's India office confirmed the account was restricted and unavailable in India, but no reasons or guidance on lifting the restriction were provided. His emails to Meta received only automated acknowledgments. A screenshot shared by Kejriwal showed the account status as "Unavailable in some locations." Reports differ on whether the affected account was Instagram or unspecified, per medianama.com.
The incident follows Meta's recent apology to the Indian government for removing a post by Prime Minister Modi, highlighting ongoing tensions between the social media giant and Indian authorities. Kejriwal's public accusation adds to scrutiny of Meta's content moderation and account management policies in India, a key market with regulatory challenges. No public response from Meta on Kejriwal's claim was available at the time of reporting, medianama.com noted.
Meta's handling of political figures' accounts in India remains under close watch amid regulatory pressures. Kejriwal's allegation on August 6 marks a notable escalation in the discourse around platform governance and government relations in the country, medianama.com reported.