At the government’s request, Meta deleted a well-known Muslim news page on Instagram in India, the account’s founder claimed Wednesday, condemning the action as “censorship” as tensions between India and Pakistan rise.
When Indian Instagram users attempted to see posts from the @Muslim page, which has 6.7 million followers, they were greeted with the following message: “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”
The Indian government did not immediately respond to the restriction, which follows the blocking of access to Pakistani actors’ and cricket players’ social media accounts.
“I received hundreds of messages, emails and comments from our followers in India, that they cannot access our account,” Ameer Al-Khatahtbeh, the news account’s founder and editor-in-chief, said in a statement.
“Meta has blocked the @Muslim account by legal request of the Indian government. This is censorship.”
Meta chose not to respond. A representative for the internet behemoth pointed AFP to a corporate website detailing its policy regarding content restriction when governments deem content on its platforms to be “against local law.”
The development follows the deadliest hostilities between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan in 20 years, and was originally reported by Taylor Lorenz’s U.S. tech publication User Magazine.
One of the most popular Muslim news accounts on Instagram is @Muslim. Khatahtbeh expressed regret to his Indian supporters, adding: “When platforms and countries try to silence media, it tells us that we are doing our job in holding those in power accountable.”
“We will continue to document the truth and stand out firmly for justice,” he added, while calling on Meta to reinstate the account in India.
Additionally, over a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels, including news sources, have been blocked by India for allegedly disseminating “provocative” content.
Imran Khan, the cricket captain and former prime minister of Pakistan, has had his Instagram account restricted in India in recent days.
Along with a variety of cricket stars, including former players Shahid Afridi and Wasim Akram and star hitters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistani Bollywood film regulars Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam were also prohibited from entering India.
With social media users spreading everything from deepfake movies to old photos from other battles, wrongly connecting them to the Indian attacks, the escalating animosity between the South Asian neighbors have also unleashed a torrent of online disinformation.
U.S. President Donald Trump offered to assist in putting a stop to the carnage on Wednesday and demanded that India and Pakistan immediately cease their conflict.
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