The Trinamool Congress alleged on Monday that Facebook and Whatsapp removed accounts of its supporters in the run-up to a pre-announced event to mark the Foundation Day of the party on August 28.
Its Parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien, said in a letter to Facebook that he had raised the matter after the general elections in July last year during the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Upper House, pointing out the collusion between those working in Facebook India and the BJP. “The NDA also had a hidden partner, non-disclosed allies. Facebook’s senior management in India are de facto campaign managers for the BJP, Facebook’s Delhi office is virtually its extended IT cell. Facebook censored anti-BJP content,” Mr. O’ Brien had said in his speech at that time.
‘Party vindicated’
In his letter to Facebook, he said he had hoped that Facebook would take remedial action after his speech.
After the recent articles in The Wall Street Journal and Time magazine highlighting the link between the BJP and Facebook, the Trinamool, he said, stands vindicated.
And the worst fears of the party, Mr. O’ Brien said, has come true just six months ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, where TMC’s key opponent is the BJP. “We want to bring to your attention the removal of hundreds of TMC supporters’ pages and accounts on both WhatsApp, and Facebook for ‘community standard violation’ in the run-up to the pre-announced Foundation Day event,” he wrote in the letter.
