Image credits: PTI / Twitter screenshot.
Several people took to Twitter calling Facebook’s measure a cheap coup and suppressing the voice of protesting farmers. As of this writing, the page has been restored.
- News18.com
- Last update: December 21, 2020 8:54 AM IST
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Facebook on Sunday night took to the ‘Kisan Ekta Morcha’ Facebook page, which had been taken down earlier that day.
Facebook briefly deleted Kisan Ekta Morcha’s account on Sunday where farmer groups had been posting updates on their ongoing agitation against the Center’s new agricultural marketing laws.
A screenshot tweeted by the group showed that the page was removed by Facebook citing “community standards on spam.” The page had more than 7 lakh followers. According to protesting unions, the account was taken down shortly after Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav announced in a live video that farmers will go on a relay hunger strike on Monday.
After the news, several people on Twitter protested Facebook’s move, calling it an effective shutdown of farmers’ voices.
As of this writing, the page has been restored.
Tens of thousands of farmers have blocked the roads leading to New Delhi for the past three weeks to demand the repeal of laws that give them the option to sell directly to private companies. The government says the change is necessary to boost agricultural yields and improve storage and other infrastructure. But farmers, mainly from the agrarian states of northern Punjab and Haryana, fear that private companies will eventually dictate terms and that the government will stop buying grains like wheat and rice from them at a guaranteed minimum price.
After a series of previous meetings with ministers, the protesters have said that nothing less than an official annulment of the three laws will be enough to change their position.
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