The official Facebook account of Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, which was suspended on Friday evening, has since been restored on Saturday morning. While the government has promptly denied any involvement in the suspension, sources familiar with the matter suggest that the action was taken due to an alleged “violent sexual” post on the account.
Akhilesh Yadav boasts a significant following of approximately 8.5 million on Facebook, a platform owned by Meta. This incident triggered a political exchange between the SP and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Meta, the parent company, confirmed that the account was reinstated after a review of the issue.
A Meta spokesperson stated, “We restored the page once the issue was brought to our notice.”
Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw commented on the situation, saying, “Action has been taken by Facebook. The government has nothing to do with this. His account had an abusive post due to which Facebook took down his profile as per their policies.”
Following the government’s clarification, SP leaders and representatives voiced their strong opposition, claiming that the suspension was an “attack on democracy” and part of an “undeclared emergency” imposed by the BJP to silence opposition voices. SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chaand asserted on X, “The suspension of the Facebook account of the respected national president of the country’s third largest party, Shri Akhilesh Yadav ji, is an attack on democracy… However, the Samajwadi Party will continue to oppose the anti-people policies of the BJP.”
Rajeev Rai, an SP Lok Sabha MP, also took to X, condemning the blocking of Yadav’s account as a blow to India’s democratic system and a sign of “cowardice” if orchestrated by the ruling party. He added, “Trying to suppress the voice of socialists is a mistake.”
With the account now operational, the exact nature of the flagged post and the precise reasons for Facebook’s temporary action remain subjects of ongoing discussion.