Congress claims Instagram blocked Rahul Gandhi's reel, photo featuring Vijay; IT Ministry denies role
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was in Chennai on Sunday to attend the oath-taking ceremony of TVK chief Vijay as the Tamil Nadu chief minister and later shared several pictures with the actor-politician on social media.
The Congress has claimed that Instagram has "blocked" Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's reel and photo post featuring Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay's swearing-in ceremony due to the rules of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
Rahul Gandhi was in Chennai on Sunday (May 10) to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Vijay as the Tamil Nadu chief minister. The Congress leader later shared several pictures with the actor-politician on social media.
Instagram blocked Rahul Gandhi's reel and pictures
In a post on X, Congress leader and Rahul Gandhi's aide Srivatsa claimed that Instagram has "blocked LOP Rahul Gandhi's reel and pictures post featuring him and Thalapathy Vijay at today's swearing-in ceremony".
Srivatsa said that the viral reel had gathered 12 million views in less than an hour, while the viral picture post had already reached 46 million people. "Meta cites no reason as to why his account has become inaccessible. The 'glitch' is because of MEITY rules! Rahul Gandhi's social media accounts have been suppressed for a long time. His X reach, YouTube views, and Insta followers have all been suppressed," he alleged.
He further alleged that the ministry is actively restricting the voices of opposition leaders in the country. "This is how India's opposition leader's voice is curtailed," Srivatsa added.
MeitY denies role
Responding to the claims, sources in the MeitY clarified that it had nothing to do with the action, and it was because the platform's internal system mistakenly flagged the post for blocking.
The ministry said it has been wrongly claimed by certain social media handles that certain posts of the leader of the opposition were restricted by the ministry. "It has been wrongly claimed by certain social media handles that certain posts of the LoP were restricted by MeitY. It is clarified that MeitY had nothing to do with this action; it was because of the platform's own internal system mistakenly flagging the posts for blocking, which have now been restored in the platform," the sources said.
Vijay's swearing-in ceremony
On Sunday, Tamil Nadu witnessed one of the most dramatic political transitions in its modern history as actor-turned-politician Vijay took oath as the 9th Chief Minister of the state, ending the decades-long political dominance of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)and ushering in what he called "a new era of real, secular and social justice.
He took the oath on God, and shortly after his ministers were sworn in, Vijay made three announcements on the rollout of 200 units of free electricity to domestic consumers using up to 500 units per billing cycle, setting up a women's protection force and an anti-narcotic task force to eradicate drugs.
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