NEW DELHI: Facebook on Friday said it is investigating the blocking of former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar's page on the social media platform.
The development comes a day after Kumar's official page on Facebook was blocked and later unblocked. "We've restored Ms Meira Kumar's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MeiraKumarOfficial/ that was unpublished. We regret the inconvenience caused and are investigating the issue," a Facebook spokesperson said.
In a tweet on Thursday, Kumar said the blocking of the page was an 'injury to democracy'. Tweeting in Hindi, she said, "Facebook page block kiya gaya! Aakhir kyu? Loktantra par aaghaat! Ye mahaz sanyog nahi ho sakta ki Bihar Vidhan Sabha chunaav se pehle Facebook mere page ko block karta hai!" (Facebook page has been blocked! But why? Injury to democracy! This cannot be mere coincidence that Facebook blocked my page ahead of Bihar Assembly elections)."
In another tweet, she said after much protest, her Facebook page had been unblocked. Over the past many months, Facebook in India has been facing heat over its decisions allegedly being influenced by political leanings of individuals in the company and its handling of alleged hate speeches.
However, Facebook had rejected those charges saying its platform remains neutral and non-partisan, and that the process followed is designed to ensure no one person can influence outcomes, let alone take any unilateral decisions.
Facebook has over 300 million users in India, while its group company WhatsApp has more than 400 million users in the country.