<p>Congress on Thursday accused Facebook of “stifling” the voice of the Opposition as the social networking platform blocked the account of former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.</p>.<p>Kumar, who was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2009-14, posted screenshots of her Facebook page claiming that it was blocked by the website.</p>.<p>“Facebook page BLOCKED! Crushing the voice of opposition- an assault on democracy. It cannot be just a mere coincidence that just before the Bihar Elections Facebook chooses to block my page,” the senior Congress leader said.</p>.<p>Kumar, the tallest Congress leader in Bihar, is a star campaigner of the party for the upcoming elections.<br /> </p>.<div aria-label="" class="flourish-embed flourish-map" data-src="visualisation/3759518" data-url="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/3759518/embed">1</div>.<p>Senior Congress leader backed Kumar, accusing Facebook’s India office of being subservient to the agenda of the Modi government.</p>.<p>“We witnessed as to how Facebook India leadership was compromised by Modi Govt as subservient to its agenda. Now blocking the account of Former Speaker & a leading light of Congress proves that petty tactics are being used to stifle the voice of Opposition leaders,” AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said.</p>.<p>Congress leader K C Venugopal had written two letters to the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeking action against its India team, accusing it of turning a blind eye to instances of hate speech by BJP leaders shared on the social networking platform.</p>.<p>The issue was taken up by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, where Facebook had assured the members that the social media platform for non-partisan.</p>
<p>Congress on Thursday accused Facebook of “stifling” the voice of the Opposition as the social networking platform blocked the account of former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.</p>.<p>Kumar, who was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2009-14, posted screenshots of her Facebook page claiming that it was blocked by the website.</p>.<p>“Facebook page BLOCKED! Crushing the voice of opposition- an assault on democracy. It cannot be just a mere coincidence that just before the Bihar Elections Facebook chooses to block my page,” the senior Congress leader said.</p>.<p>Kumar, the tallest Congress leader in Bihar, is a star campaigner of the party for the upcoming elections.<br /> </p>.<div aria-label="" class="flourish-embed flourish-map" data-src="visualisation/3759518" data-url="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/3759518/embed">1</div>.<p>Senior Congress leader backed Kumar, accusing Facebook’s India office of being subservient to the agenda of the Modi government.</p>.<p>“We witnessed as to how Facebook India leadership was compromised by Modi Govt as subservient to its agenda. Now blocking the account of Former Speaker & a leading light of Congress proves that petty tactics are being used to stifle the voice of Opposition leaders,” AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said.</p>.<p>Congress leader K C Venugopal had written two letters to the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeking action against its India team, accusing it of turning a blind eye to instances of hate speech by BJP leaders shared on the social networking platform.</p>.<p>The issue was taken up by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, where Facebook had assured the members that the social media platform for non-partisan.</p>
