Deepak Kumar, whose account had approximately 1.6 lakh followers and a monthly reach of approximately 1.4 crore, had uploaded a video criticizing Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
Case after case of action against social media accounts of content creators critical of the government is increasing. In this series, the Instagram account of Dalit rationalist content creator Deepak Kumar, also known as ‘Deepak Dialogues’, was also suspended a month ago.
Deepak Kumar, whose account had approximately 1.6 lakh followers and a monthly reach of approximately 1.4 crore, had uploaded a video criticizing Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. In the video, he questioned the alleged silence of the Chief Minister and the government regarding the sex scandal involving Soham Naik, son of a BJP councilor in Goa. Subsequently, his account was suspended in India without any prior notice. Deepak alleges that Meta suspended his account based on a complaint from the Goa Police.
Deepak Kumar uploaded the video in March, amid widespread public outrage over allegations of a sex scandal involving Soham Naik, the son of a BJP councilor in Goa. In the video, he questioned the silence of the Goa government and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Deepak stated that the Epstein Files scandal was being discussed globally at the time, so he cited it as an example. He accused the Chief Minister of adopting double standards, claiming he had previously protested on public issues but remained silent on this issue.
The controversy escalated after the video referred to some leaders as “useless leaders.” Speaking to Bahujan Lives Matter, Deepak stated that the word “useless” was intended as criticism, not an insult. Despite this, his Instagram account was suspended in India on April 8th without any prior notice, email, or notice. Deepak stated that Meta told the Delhi High Court that this action was taken following communication from the Goa Police. Cockroach Janata Party’s X account was also shut down in India, gaining record followers since its launch on May 16th.
The Goa CID Cyber Crime notice accused the account of posting “objectionable/defamatory content” and cited sections 353 and 356 of the BNSS. The notice directed Meta to disable the account and blacklist the device and phone number to prevent the creation of new accounts. Furthermore, the Goa Crime Branch summoned Deepak to Goa for questioning under section 35(3) of the BNSS.
According to Deepak, before he could appear on the notice, Goa police arrived in Delhi, where he was staying at a friend’s house for medical treatment. The police traced not only his phone but also the phones of those he was in regular contact with. Deepak stated that he could not travel 2000 kilometers immediately due to health reasons. The police left after speaking with a lawyer.
Deepak also received threats following this incident. He stated that the account closure has severely affected his livelihood. Suspending his entire account instead of removing a single video is tantamount to taking away his source of income. Deepak Kumar has now filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the account suspension and is awaiting further legal action.
Geetha Sunil Pillai
Courtesy: Hindi News