Kerala Poet Alleges Facebook Account Suspended For "Satire" Over BJP Loss

The poet claimed that he had previously received a warning from Facebook when he had put out a post against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A Kerala-based poet has alleged that he was blocked by Facebook for 24 hours for posting a video on the Bharatiya Janata Party's loss in the recently-concluded Assembly elections in the state. The "satirical video", K Satchidanandan said, was sent to him as a WhatsApp forward after which he shared on the social media platform. The BJP has denied any role in the incident. Deplorable that @Facebook has suspended the account of one of Kerala's greatest living poets, @Satchida (K. Satchidanandan, former Secy of the SahityaAkademi), for posting a video about BJP's defeat in the Kerala Assembly elections. We must not allow censorship into our politics! "I was barred from posting or commenting on Facebook because I posted a widely shared video - a satire on BJP's defeat in Kerala.  The clipping is from a movie where Hitler is addressing his soldiers after defeat, and the Malayalam commentary in it was about Amit Shah and senior BJP leaders speaking to party workers in Kerala after defeat. The post was a satire, it was critical but was not abusive of anyone," Mr Satchidanandan told NDTV. The poet claimed that he had previously received a warning from Facebook when he had put out a post against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I also received a warning from Facebook earlier on April 21 when I had put up a post against PM Modi demanding his resignation. There is a conspiracy between the government and Facebook. Because India is a big consumer. And BJP has a massive IT cell, they must be watching us - people who are known or have influence on people," he said.