RB News World Latest News
Related Articles
Meta has removed several accounts and pages linked to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA T Raja Singh. The action comes a week after a report by India Hate Lab (IHL) revealed how Singh and his supporters were promoting hate speech against Muslims on the social media platform despite an official ban.
Raja Singh expressed displeasure over Meta’s action
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has removed two Facebook pages and three Instagram accounts linked to Raja Singh. BJP MLA T. Raja Singh has expressed surprise at the blocking of his and his friends and family members’ social media accounts. He has described it as ‘selective censorship’ targeting Hindus. He alleged that freedom of expression is being attacked.
Accounts of activists and supporters blocked
Raja Singh said in a statement, ‘It is extremely unfortunate that Facebook and Instagram have blocked the accounts of my family, friends, activists and supporters. Earlier, my official account was wrongly targeted based on Rahul Gandhi’s complaint. Now those who share my videos are also being silenced.’
Violated our policy – Facebook
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed this in a statement and said, ‘We have banned Raja Singh from Facebook because he has violated our policy, which prohibits those who promote or participate in violence and hate from appearing on our platform. The process of evaluating potential violators is comprehensive and that is why we have decided to remove his account.’
Anti-Muslim statements
Raja Singh was banned under Meta’s ‘Dangerous Individuals and Organizations’ policy due to his history of inflammatory and anti-Muslim rhetoric. The ban meant that Singh was banned from having any official presence on the platform, and any new pages, groups or accounts representing him would also be removed.
On February 20, Meta took decisive action and removed two Facebook pages and three Instagram accounts associated with Singh. According to IHL, the removed pages had more than one million followers, while the Instagram accounts had a combined total of more than 155,000 user followers.
META also took action against these accounts
The IHL report also revealed how Singh’s supporters used alternative methods to circumvent META’s restrictions. Some of the largest Facebook groups promoting his content include Raja Singh (Bhagyanagar) MLA, Raja Singh (Dhoolpet) MLA, Raja Singh Yuva Sena (RSYS) and Tiger Raja Singh Official Group. Collectively these groups garnered more than 100,000 followers. Similarly, Singh’s content on Instagram was amplified through four major accounts. These include @rajasinghmla, @t.usharajasinghofficial, @t.rajabhaimla1, and @t.rajabhaimla3, which together had a combined total of approximately 198,900 followers.
