New Delhi: Facebook-owned Instagram on Friday took down a post by Rahul Gandhi which had pictures of the Congress leader meeting the parents of the nine-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly raped and killed in Nangal area of Delhi Cantonment.
According to the Indian Express, Facebook said the post was in violation of its policy and the company has informed Gandhi that the post had been taken down, along with the reasons for doing so.
Gandhi’s post has caused controversy since the law does not allow the identity of a minor victim or her family to be revealed if sexual assault is alleged. Earlier, Twitter had deleted the post and then locked Rahul Gandhi’s account, along with several other Congress handles, for sharing the same post. The accounts were later unlocked.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had asked various social media platforms to take action against Gandhi’s post. The child rights body had also summoned Facebook on August 13 and subsequently, the social media giant wrote to Gandhi and asked him to remove the pictures.
“According to NCPCR’s August 10, 2021 notice, a post you uploaded through your Instagram account, is unlawful under Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015; Section 23 of the POCSO, 2012; and Section 288A of the Indian Penal Code. In accordance with NCPCR’s notice, you are requested to remove this post expeditiously,” Facebook had said in its e-mail to Gandhi, according to IE.
Also Read: What the Law Says About Rahul Gandhi Sharing a Photo of His Meeting With Rape Victim’s Parents
The report adds that after Facebook provided the NCPCR with a copy of the letter it had sent to Gandhi, the child rights panel exempted the social media company from the summons.
The Congress and Gandhi himself have been critical of social media companies for bowing to government demands to remove his posts. Last week, Gandhi accused Twitter of being “biased and interfering in the country’s political process” after it suspended his account termporarily.
“It’s obvious now that Twitter is actually not a neutral, objective platform. It is a biased platform. It’s something that listens to what the government of the day says,” he charged in a video message posted on social media.
“By shutting down my Twitter they are interfering in our political process. A company is making its business to define our politics. And as a politician I don’t like that,” he said.