“Stance against BJP, RSS”: Insta handles of Malayalam daily Deshabhimani, portal 'No Cap' disabled
News portal The Wire was blocked for two hours on Monday
Kochi: Meta has reportedly disabled Instagram handles of Malayalam newspaper Deshabhimani, and online news portal ‘No Cap’.
According to a report by The News Minute, the platform also had blocked national news portal The Wire was blocked in India for nearly two hours on Monday, February 9.
“The Instagram account was disabled on February 1, coinciding with the day the Union Government presented its budget. In the ten days since, the organisation has repeatedly reached out to Meta seeking restoration of the account, but has received no response or resolution,” reported TNM quoting the Coordinating Editor, Sajan Evugen for the digital edition of Deshabhimani as saying.
Sajan also shared that they posted several news card on the budget day, however later that day Meta disabled their account without any proper explanation.
“We have submitted an appeal but have not received a response, we also haven’t received any notification on community standards violation,” he added.
Meanwhile, Deshabhimani, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in a report stated that the action came in the backdrop of the newspaper’s reporting and firm stance against
“Deshabhimani regularly shared posts highlighting what it described as the Union government’s neglect of Kerala and its anti-people policies,” the newspaper said, suggesting these could be possible reasons behind the ban.
In a Facebook post, No Cap stated that action against its Instagram handle was taken without any explanation or specified reason.
Quoting Ali Hyder, Executive Editor of No Cap, the TNM reported that they initially received a notice from Meta suspending the account for an alleged violation of community standards, without specifying any particular post or content.
“We submitted an appeal explaining our position, but the response we received was a permanent suspension, citing only ‘community violence’ without any clear explanation,” Hyder stated.
According to Hyder, in the days leading up to the suspension, the account had shared news posts critical of the RSS and reports mentioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name in connection with the Epstein files.
“We are not certain about the exact reason, but some of the content we posted recently was related to the Epstein files,” he said.
Deshabhimani in its report stated that the Instagram account had shared posts opposing Union government policies impacting ordinary citizens, criticising what it described as the neglect of Kerala, and condemning the BJP government’s alleged submission to the United States and propaganda against communal harmony.
“Meta’s action comes at a time when this content had reached a wide audience,” the Deshabhimani report read.
Following the ban, on Monday, February 9, Deshabhimani appealed for the account’s reinstatement, but has not received any favourable response from Meta so far. “We will continue our efforts to communicate with Meta, but for now, we have launched a new page,” Sajan said.
Alongside news portal accounts, several Instagram pages that had criticised the Union government were also disabled over the past week.
In a social media post, The Wire said it had informally learned that the ministry had requested Meta to block a 52-second satirical animation on Instagram. Although the account was later restored, the cartoon remained inaccessible.
Third largest newspaper in kerala blocked because they were critical of BJP's Union Government.
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Surjewala slams Pratap Simha’s ‘vile’ remarks on CM Siddaramaiah, demands apology from BJP
Bengaluru (PTI): Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the BJP over alleged disparaging remarks made by former Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during an assembly bypoll campaign in Bagalkote.
Simha made the remarks while campaigning for BJP candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath, triggering a political row ahead of the by-elections scheduled for April 9.
Congress has fielded Umesh Meti, son of former MLA late M Y Meti, whose death necessitated the bye-election.
"Pratap Simha's vile remarks about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bagalkot have exposed the BJP's despicable politics once again," Surjewala said in a social media post.
Alleging a larger political design, he added, "It is increasingly evident that Pratap Simha’s outburst is driven by desperation," and accused the BJP of using such remarks to target backward classes, Scheduled Castes, and minorities.
The Rajya Sabha member further claimed that the incident reflects a pattern within the party. "This is not one man's madness—it is the BJP’s political culture," he said, adding that the remarks were aimed at "denigrating leaders from marginalised communities".
Referring to past incidents, Surjewala said, "CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar have received death threats in the past, including one from BJP leaders who warned that their bodies would be stuffed into a refrigerator."
The Congress leader also criticised the BJP’s bypoll campaign strategy, alleging "internal contradictions".
He pointed to the party’s use of expelled MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal in campaigning despite earlier disciplinary action against him, accusing the BJP of resorting to "abuses and indignities" against opposition leaders.
Surjewala demanded immediate action from the BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, state president B Y Vijayendra, and Leader of Opposition R Ashoka.
He said they must tender a public apology to Kannadigas, particularly to OBCs, SCs, and minorities, over the remarks, and urged the party to expel Simha if it does not repudiate his statements.
Surjewala also called for legal action, demanding that an FIR be registered against Simha and that strict measures be taken.
Warning of "political consequences", he said the electorate in the bypoll-bound constituencies would respond decisively if the BJP failed to apologise, asserting that voters would "teach the BJP a befitting lesson" in the elections.
There has been no immediate reaction from the saffron party yet.
