Social networking website, Facebook had taken down the page of Kisan Ekta Morcha for several hours on Sunday which had sparked widespread criticism over what farmers said was an attempt to muzzle their voices. It also led to the strong suspicion that Facebook might be “hands in gloves” with the government in suppressing the voice of dissent. The group’s Instagram page was also restricted.

Yogendra Yadav, Swaraj India national president had alleged that the Facebook account ‘Kisan Ekta Morcha page’ belonging to the farmers protesting against the Centre’s farm laws was blocked on Sunday during a live broadcast. Mr. Yadav said that the incident reflects that the government is scared of the ongoing farmers’ agitation.

“In midst of a Facebook Live I was doing from Kisan Ekta Morcha’s page, we get a notification that the FB page has been unpublished. There must be something about farmers that this government is particularly scared of and something about this government that Facebook is particularly scared of,” tweeted Mr. Yadav.

Kisan Ekta Morcha is a farmers’ collective and its Facebook page, less than five days old, had notched up 75,000 followers. The group collects and collates information from different farmers’ unions and posts them across social media. After massive outrage over social media, Facebook later restored the page.