After netizens' flak, Facebook says #ResignModi blocking was not deliberate

New Delhi: Facebook came out with a clarification after many users called out the blocking of a hashtag that demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation as the COVID cases spiral out of control in India.

Facebook said that some posts with the hashtag #ResignModi were mistakenly hidden as "some content in those posts goes against our Community Standards".

The Facebook users who tried to view the hashtag saw a message saying that Facebook was temporarily hiding the posts in order to keep the community safe.

In a statement given to The Verge late on Wednesday, Facebook said it has now restored the posts and the hashtag was blocked "by mistake".

The company said that the Indian government did not ask to remove the hashtag.

Facebook also said that the block was the result of some of the content that used the hashtag, "but did not specify what kind of content".

Earlier this week, Twitter pulled down at least 50 tweets at the behest of the Indian government that criticised the government for the poor handling of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The data available on the Lumen database showed that the micro-blogging platform deleted more than 50 tweets that belonged to people like Revanth Reddy, an MP from Telangana; Moloy Ghatak, a West Bengal state minister; two filmmakers; an actor and others.

In another daily record, India reported nearly 3.8 lakh new cases and 3,645 deaths on Wednesday while 14 states and UTs recorded their highest single-day case count.