Kerala CM Denies Role in Removal of Social Media Posts Linked to Him, Govt
The Chief Minister said Hussain had met him three to four times but claimed he was unaware of Hussain’s alleged involvement in the drug case at the time.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Thursday denied claims that he had asked Meta to remove news items related to him or the Congress-led UDF Government from Facebook.
His response came after the Opposition LDF accused the UDF government of imposing an “undeclared social media emergency” by allegedly taking down several posts and news reports linked to the arrest of Youth Congress leaders on synthetic drug peddling charges. Satheeshan admitted knowing two youths, including a Youth Congress activist, who were arrested with MDMA, but rejected the allegations that his office requested the removal of reports critical of him.
The Chief Minister said at a press conference that he personally knew the two arrested individuals, Muhammad Hussain and Abdul Salam. Satheesan mentioned he first contacted Hussain after he was severely injured in a police lathicharge at Perumbavoor during the Nava Kerala Sadas, led by then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. At the request of the local panchayat office-bearers and the MLA, he visited Hussain to check on his health.
The Chief Minister said Hussain had met him three to four times but claimed he was unaware of Hussain’s alleged involvement in the drug case at the time.
Satheeshan also stated that he had not pressured Meta to remove controversial posts. “My office made only one request to Meta—to restore the official Instagram account of the CMO. But it has still not been restored even after two months,” he said.
The Chief Minister said similar removals of news items had also occurred in connection with the content of the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Himachal Pradesh, respectively.
"Do you think I’m such a fool to believe that by having Meta remove 10 posts, we can gag the media and social media in Kerala? Satheesan asked .
“We saw news that Meta apologized to the Prime Minister, and it’s been happening since then across the country, not just in Kerala," the chief minister added.
