Facebook removes JI's official page for 'covering atrocities in Kashmir'

KARACHI: The official page of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI) was removed by Facebook for covering atrocities in Indian-held Kashmir, the party claimed on Wednesday.

“After removing or blocking all those who have a display picture of Burhan Wani, now [the] official page of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan has been removed by Facebook due to coverage of atrocities in Indian-held Kashmir,”  the party statement said.

The JI claimed their page had more than three million likes, and was ahead of any other party in terms of overall reach.

Wani, a 22-year-old commander of the region’s largest rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen was killed in a brief gunfight with Indian forces on July 8. Since then, at least 100 demonstrators have been killed due to the occupied military’s indiscriminate use of force against Kashmiri masses.

“Indo-Pak war is not going only at diplomatic level... Now this is cyber war,” the statement added.



“Facebook management informed us by sending a screenshot of the page’s display picture, saying ‘it violates community standards,’” head of JI's social media Shamsuddin Amjad told The Express Tribune. “The picture was designed for the rally scheduled for September 30 in Faisalabad."



Meanwhile, party’s Secretary Information Pakistan Amirul Azeem in a statement said deleting posts, and blocking JI’s Facebook page was against the freedom of expression. He demanded the ban be reversed, else legal action could be initiated.

Facebook has been accused of taking down content posted by Kashmiris as well regarding events unfolding in the region. Even some renowned voices, including Hamza Ali Abbasi, were temporarily blocked and had their posts taken down by Facebook ‘for violating community standards.’