Facebook blocks hashtag against PM Modi by ‘mistake’, later restores it

Facebook, late on Wednesday, blocked a hashtag “#ResignModi” for several hours before restoring it, claiming this was done by mistake, even as the Union government issued a statement saying it had not asked for anything to be blocked by Facebook.

“We temporarily blocked this hashtag by mistake, not because the Indian government asked us to, and have since restored it,” a Facebook spokesperson said.

The ministry of electronics and information technology echoed Facebook, and cited a Wall Street Journal story attributing the removal of a “certain hashtag” to the government of India’s efforts to curb public dissent. It called the story “misleading on facts and mischievous in intent”.