Goshamahal BJP MLA T Raja Singh banned from Facebook after controversy

Hyderabad: After being involved in controversy over messages of hate speech on the popular social media platform, Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh has been banned by Facebook.

The social media platform informed US-based newspaper The Washington Post, that T Raja Singh has been banned from Facebook amid controversies that followed after the paper alleged that Facebook was biased in reacting to the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA's incendiary posts.

"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 spokesperson told the United States-based newspaper. “The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to this decision.”

MLA @TigerRajaSingh on the Facebook ban@NewsMeter_In pic.twitter.com/ujhheofstX

— Priyali Dhingra (@priyali_dhingra) September 3, 2020

[amp-tweet tweetid="https://twitter.com/priyali_dhingra/status/1301407071619805184"]

Speaking to Newsmeter at the time of the initial report's release, the Telangana MLA had claimed that his official Facebook account was 'hacked' by miscreants in 2018, post Telangana state elections.

However, a number of pages continued to run in his name, five of which have been banned by Facebook. These pages amounted close to 3 lakh followers.

In a Parliamentary Committee Meeting held on Wednesday, September 2, Facebook's India head was summoned and questioned by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for not taking down inflammatory content posted by BJP leaders.

In a report published by the Wall Street Journal in August, it was stated that despite a number of communal posts on Raja Singh’s official Facebook handle, the heads at Facebook’s India branch refused to register complaints against him. The reason, it was alleged, was because he is a member of the country’s leading political organisation, BJP.

The report said that the Telangana MLA used his official Facebook page to promote anti-Islamic ideas, such as those criticising Rohingya Muslims.

Soon after the publication of the report, however, Raja Singh publicly denied all the allegations. Stating that he has does not have official Facebook pages, the MLA said that none of his posts have led to riots or communal disturbances.

In a video published on his official Twitter account on August 16th, the MLA had said, “There are several pages operating in my name that promote vile ideas but I only maintain official handles on Twitter and YouTube. I have nothing to do with the pages that operate under my name.”

Also read: Goshamahal MLA Raja Singh denies allegations of spreading communal hatred through FB posts