FB blocks Kashmir Ink over Wani story

The editors of local weekly Kashmir Ink, a sister publication of Valley’s leading English daily Greater Kashmir, were in for a rude shock on Sunday morning when they found their Facebook page blocked.

The Kashmir Ink had posted the cover page of its latest issue, which showed a large portrait of Hizbul Mujahedeen commander Burhan Wani, gunned down in a police encounter last year, with the following text – Kashmir: A year after Burhan’s death.

On Saturday, Kashmir witnessed a blanket ban on internet access imposed as part of the “precautionary measures” to check any worsening of law and order situation on the day that marked Burhan’s first death anniversary. Broadband and 2G mobile internet services were restored late on Saturday night.

On Sunday, as the Kashmir Ink tried to access its page, a message from Facebook popped up: “You’re temporarily blocked from posting. This temporary block will last for 24 hours, and you won’t be able to post on Facebook until it’s finished.”

Along ith the block, the Burhan-related cover story has also been deleted by Facebook. The magazine, however, is available for purhcase on the stands in Kashmir.

“We removed the post below because it doesn’t follow the Facebook Community Standards. Please bear in mind that people who repeatedly post things that aren’t allowed on Facebook may have their accounts permanently disabled,” the message read.

“This is completely unjustified... This was done without giving any prior intimation or reason,” said Majid Maqbool, executive editor, Kashmir Ink. “Some ignoramus folks reported to the Facebook. The issue, as is evident from the cover, talks about the current situation in Kashmir after a year of an incident which rattled the valley,” he added.