Summary:
In 2016, Facebook was criticised for removing content regarding the Kashmir dispute, triggering a response from several major media groups against its policies on censorship. Social media companies such as Facebook have been under increasing pressure to limit the spread of extremist propaganda - but have also faced criticism that they have gone too far.
Allegations:
- Kashmiris alleged that the information blackout that had been indefinitely imposed by the Indian government was further exacerbated by the censorship on Facebook. Yasir, a Kashmiri blogger and PhD student said his account had been blocked for more than a week, with some posts removed, after he linked to a self-authored blogspot about Burhan Wani. He said "When there’s no news, usually we turn to social media for information. That way at least we can talk to each other, we can ask our families and friends how they are, if they are OK. But Facebook has taken my account down, so how do I do that now?”
- Rizwan Sajid's account was blocked after he changed his profile picture to an image of Burhan Wani. He accused Facebook's censorship of amounting to Islamophobia and claimed that the social network was being one-sided in its censorship of only Muslims.
- “It looks more like Facebook censorship rather than something initiated by the government. Maybe they are trying to please the government proactively,” said Sunil Abraham, executive director of Center for Internet and Society.
Defence:
- In a statement, Facebook said: “There is no place on Facebook for content that praises or supports terrorists, terrorists organisations or terrorism. We welcome discussion on these subjects but any terrorist content has to be clearly put in context which condemns these organisations and or their violent activities. Therefore, profiles and content supporting or praising Hizbul Mujahideen and Burhan Wani are removed as soon as they are reported to us. In this instance, some content was removed in error, but this has now been restored.”