Kerala CMO’s deleted posts restored on Facebook after govt intervention

Thiruvananthapuram: Meta has restored two official posts that were removed from the Keralam CMO’s Facebook page after intervention by the Chief Minister’s Office, Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan said on Saturday.

The two posts were related to the announcement of the Onam festival allowance for ASHA workers and greetings on the occasion of Nabi Day.
Also read | Curious questions, notes and no phones: Kerala CM, ministers become students on Teachers’ Day eve

CMO seeks explanation from Meta

Satheesan said the posts were restored following what he described as a “strong intervention” by the Keralam CMO.

“While the content is back online, the arbitrary takedown of verified government communications ranging from festival greetings to welfare notices remains a serious concern,” he said in a post on X.

The CMO said its Secretary, Rattan U Kelkar, IAS, had taken up the matter with Meta and the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

The office has sought a formal explanation under the IT Act, including details on why the posts were removed and whether the action was taken by an automated system or manually.
Also read | Pinarayi Vijayan writes to Kharge over ‘brutal lathi charge’ on SFI students

CMO seeks safeguards for government posts

The CMO has also sought safeguards to prevent similar removals from official government social media accounts in the future.

In a letter to the Union IT Ministry, Kelkar requested its intervention to ensure that verified government communications are not removed without proper explanation.

The CMO had approached Meta and the Union IT Ministry earlier on Saturday, seeking the restoration of the two posts and an explanation for their removal.

The posts have now been restored, but the state government has sought clarity on the circumstances that led to their removal.