Facebook Bans BJP MLA Over Hate Speech Violations

Social media giant Facebook has banned Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party MLA T Raja Singh for violating Facebook's policy on content promoting hate and violence, a spokesperson was quoted saying to various news outlets.

"We have banned Raja Singh from Facebook for violating our policy prohibiting those that promote or engage in violence and hate from having a presence on our platform," a Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding that the process for evaluating potential violators "is extensive and it is what led us to Facebook's decision to remove his account".

This decision comes amid Facebook receiving severe backlash for not applying hate speech rules on BJP members.

A media report added, T Raja Singh claimed in a video on Twitter last month that he does not have any official Facebook page. "I have got to know many FB pages are using my name. Let me clarify I'm not having any official page, I'm not responsible for any of their posts," he said. Singh further claimed that his official Facebook account was "hacked and blocked in 2018" and he has only one official YouTube account and one official Twitter account.

In a parliamentary panel meeting led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday, Facebook officials were asked to list instances where they acted against hate speech. Singh's alleged posts were also cited by members of the opposition and the officials faced questions on the alleged political bias from both sides of the divide, as cited by a media report.