Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 14, 2025

Facebook blocks, then restores, content calling on Indian Prime Minister Modi to resign

Facebook blocks, then restores, content calling on Indian Prime Minister Modi to resign

Social-media giant said it erroneously censored posts tagged with #ResignModi as India faces devastating Covid-19 surge
Facebook Inc. temporarily blocked posts containing hashtags calling on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resign, then reinstated them on Wednesday, saying the action had been taken in error.

The #ResignModi hashtag was blocked on Facebook for several hours amid national controversy over India’s response to an escalating Covid-19 crisis and the government’s efforts to curb public dissent.

Facebook declined to say what led to the action, though it has previously apologized for other hashtag removals, which can be performed either by human review teams or the company’s automated enforcement tools.

"This hashtag has been restored and we are looking into what happened," Andy Stone, a Facebook spokesman, said.

In recent months, Mr. Modi’s government has demanded that Facebook, Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google remove content supporting farmer-led protests of an agricultural law or criticizing the government’s pandemic response.

India’s government earlier this week ordered U.S. social-media companies to block posts criticizing its handling of the exploding Covid-19 surge, sparking public anger and allegations of censorship in the world’s most populous democracy. Indian government officials said some people were using social media to create panic in society.

The companies in recent months have complied with some demands while resisting others, prompting Indian authorities to threaten to arrest individual employees of Twitter, Facebook and Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.

The Journal previously reported that Facebook had made exceptions to its policies against hate speech to avoid conflict with Mr. Modi’s political party, the BJP, and that its former Indian public-policy director, Ankhi Das, had cheered the BJP’s electoral successes and derided its political opponents.

BuzzFeed News, which earlier reported this week’s hashtag blockade in India, said Facebook’s system told users that posts that included #ResignModi were "temporarily hidden" because "some content in those posts goes against our Community Standards."

Facebook apologized last summer after imposing a similar blockade of #savethechildren, a hashtag that had been co-opted by adherents of QAnon, a right-wing conspiracy theory that posited then-President Donald Trump was waging a secret war against a powerful cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles.

Earlier in 2020, Facebook-owned Instagram blocked the #Sikh hashtag for an extended period due to what the company called an error. "We became aware that these hashtags were blocked today following feedback we received from the community, and quickly moved to unblock them," Instagram’s communications team wrote on Twitter at the time. "Our processes fell down here, and we’re sorry."
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
×