Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Police have had social media posts critical of the Central Election Commission and SIR removed. A number of Facebook posts, including those by journalists, were taken down. According to Facebook’s notification, the posts were removed after a complaint from the police.
The posts of Malayali activists are being removed while posts by prominent national-level social media activists, including Dhruv Rathee, remain online. Facebook deleted a post by journalist Mukhtar Udarampoyil in which he mocked the Central Election Commission. Another post sharing and commenting on a MediaOne report about non-functional CCTV cameras in Bihar, as well as a critical post on the Election Commission from the profile of Kenny Jacob, met the same fate. A post about SIR by the user Irshad Lavender was also taken down. Notifications on all these profiles stated that the removal followed a complaint from the state police.
The strong criticism directed at the central election commission over alleged vote theft, the SIR process and developments in the Bihar elections has been drawing widespread attention nationwide. Prominent cyber activists such as Dhruv Rathee and Mohammed Zubair continue to share posts on these issues across platforms without restriction. This has led many social media users to question why posts in Kerala alone are being restricted.
The Facebook page of Abid Adivaram, known for his criticism of the Sangh Parivar, has also been made inaccessible within India. The cyber wing of the state police is understood to forward requests to platforms such as Facebook to remove flagged content. Clarity is now being sought on the basis on which these directions are being issued.