Arvind Kejriwal, National Convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and former Delhi Chief Minister, on Thursday alleged that his Instagram account has been restricted in India by Meta Platforms, claiming the company has neither provided a reason nor responded to his repeated emails. In a post on X, Kejriwal tagged Meta and its India arm, stating that verbal enquiries at the company’s India office revealed his account had been restricted and was no longer accessible within the country. He said officials failed to explain the reason behind the action or provide any guidance on how the restriction could be lifted.
“Why have you restricted my account? … No one in your office is giving any reasons. No one is suggesting how restrictions can be removed. All emails written have elicited no response other than routine acknowledgement. That’s pretty bad service,” Kejriwal wrote.
The AAP leader also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging bias on the part of the tech company. “Don’t bow down to our Prime Minister so much. Else he will allow you to run only his own account in India,” he added.
Kejriwal’s remarks come amid heightened scrutiny of Meta’s operations in India. On August 5, the company issued an apology after a technical error briefly made a Facebook post by Prime Minister Modi unavailable. Meta restored the content shortly after and described the removal as inadvertent.
Separately, the company is also facing questions over alleged advertisements linked to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM), drawing regulatory and political attention. A senior Meta delegation led by Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan met Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Secretary S Krishnan on Wednesday to explain the temporary removal of the Prime Minister’s Facebook video.
The meeting followed criticism from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, which sought an unconditional apology from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and warned that the company’s legal immunity under the Information Technology Act could be reviewed if such lapses continued.
Kejriwal’s allegations highlight what he described as a contrast between Meta’s swift response in the Prime Minister’s case and its silence regarding his own account. Meta has not yet issued any public statement on the claims.
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