Fans upset as Facebook pulls down Subramanian Swamy pages

MUMBAI: Two Facebook pages belonging to a Hindu group have been pulled down by the social media giant for not adhering to its rules and standards. ShankhNaad, which calls itself a news and opinion site devoted to proHindutva causes, had two Facebook pages devoted to BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS) fan page was also pulled down.

The Swami pages were pulled down after the real Subramanian Swamy complained to Facebook that a parody account was using his name and posting satirical and humorous content. The page had over one lakh likes and a reach of five million.

Facebook also removed a page from the same ShankhNaad group which contained material about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Facebook said that it violated community standards.

Facebook said that users are free to express support for or interest in a brand, entity or public figure, provided that it does not mislead others into thinking it is an official page, and does not violate someone's rights.

“If your Page is not the official Page of a brand, entity (place or organisation) or a public figure, you must: not speak in the voice of, or post content as though it was coming from the authorised representative of the Page's subject matter; and make clear that the Page is not the official Page of the brand, entity (place or organisation) or public figure,“ the terms state.

“Subramanian Swamy doesn't have a verified account on Facebook. On the removal of RSS page, it said that the company doesn't comment on individual cases, but Facebook's policies clearly state that, `We will remove content which breaches our terms as set out in our statement of rights and responsibilities'.“

The community standard of Facebook puts down the rules for its users on what kind of expression is acceptable and unaccept able on the social networking site. For example, Facebook doesn't permit user or groups that attack race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or medical condition. It considers them hate speech. Posts accounts that threaten violence, use fake names, post nude or pornographic content and violate intellectual property are also considered violation of the community standards.

ShankNaad feels that it is being targeted. “There are other pages of Swamy that are run unofficially. However, they continue to exist. This makes us feel that there is a specific targeting of pages run by us“, said Rahul Priyadarshi, a 30-year-old engineer who runs the page ShankNaad.

He further says that profiles of some its members' were deactivated without warning (FB usually asks for verification before it removes a profile), some posts and a private discussion group were also removed. “All this, added together, gives an impression that someone somewhere is monitoring us specifically“ Priyadarshi said. After the United States and Canada, India has the secondlargest user base on Facebook.