BJP Telangana MLA Raja Singh Banned From Facebook For Violating Hate Speech Policy

NEW DELHI: Facebook has banned BJP politician T Raja Singh from its platform for violating Facebook's policy on content promoting hate and violence. He was tagged as a 'dangerous individual' and will not be allowed on FB or Instagram.

Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement that, "We have banned Raja Singh from Facebook for violating our policy prohibiting those that promote or engage in violence and hate from having a presence on our platform. The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to Facebook's decision to remove his account".

Facebook announced the ban of Singh just a day after it's Indian vice-president and managing director, Ajit Mohan, had deposed more than two hours before a standing parliamentary committee on the protection of citizens' rights and the misuse of social media platforms.

Defending Facebook as a neutral platform, Raja Singh said it's not fair to connect it to BJP. He further added that he would write to Facebook asking to open a new account for him and promised to obey all the rules.

Mr. Singh, the only BJP MLA from Telangana, reported that he didn't have a Facebook account since April 2019. He further added that his followers may have generated the pages that FB has now banned.

He said that he had written a letter to the Hyderabad Police Cyber Crime department on October 8, 2018, that his official Facebook verified page was hacked. He again started a new page that was unpublished or deleted in April 2019.

Raja Singh said that FB has been working under the pressure of Congress. He said that “Since April 2019, I am not on Facebook, so the question of banning me doesn't arise. This is all happening because of Rahul Gandhi's tweet some time ago."

'The Wall Street Journal' said India's top public policy executive at Facebook cited government-business ties to not to extend hate-speech laws to at least four individuals and groups linked with the BJP, despite the fact that they were "internally flagged for supporting or engaging in violence."

Previously, Facebook has banned several extremist figures, American Radio host Alex Jones, Laura Loomer, Louis Farrakhan for violating its hate speech policies.