Thiruvananthapuram: Home minister Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday denied that either the state govt or police had made any request to Meta, either officially or unofficially, to remove social media posts or news cards critical of govt and chief minister V D Satheesan.Chennithala said Meta would have to explain why such content was removed from its platforms, amid a controversy over the alleged blocking of news reports and social media posts critical of govt.The statement comes amid allegations by opposition and journalists’ organisations that Meta had removed or restricted access to several news cards and posts concerning Satheesan govt, particularly reports critical of chief minister.The controversy began after some media channels reported that Meta had removed several of their social media posts. The issue subsequently became a political controversy, with LDF alleging that govt agencies were being used to suppress criticism on social media. Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan also alleged that his statement questioning govt over the arrest of a person who had claimed to be Satheesan’s social media coordinator in an MDMA case was removed from social media. LDF argued that the restrictions amounted to an attempt to prevent criticism of govt from reaching the public.Satheesan on Tuesday reiterated that he and govt had absolutely no role in the matter and would back those aggrieved media houses whose cards have been removed by requesting Meta to restore them.
