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Facebook & Instagram users express anger at blocking of ‘Sikh’ hashtag

Users of social media platforms Facebook and Instagram (owned by the same company) has expressed anger at the blocking of the hashtag ‘Sikh’.

Earlier this evening, users noticed that the hashtag ‘Sikh’ was not recognised, instead an automated security prompt appeared. It said, “Keeping our community safe. Posts with #Sikh are currently hidden here. Some content in those posts goes against our Community Standards.”

While the issue continued to persist for Facebook users, Instagram restored to normal service rather quickly. In a tweet, Instagram’s press posted, “We have unblocked the hashtag #sikh on Instagram and are working to unblock #sikh on Facebook. We’re investigating why this happened. We will follow up here later today with more information.”

Many people expressed their anger and questioned Facebook’s hypocrisy to free speech. Sikhs have also been raising their voice about the 1984 injustices.