Kerala CM V.D. Satheesan denies requesting Meta to remove news items from its platforms

On August 13, 2026, Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan firmly denied any request to Meta to remove news articles related to himself or the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government from Facebook. Opposing parties alleged a "social media emergency" aimed at suppressing news and posts connected to the arrest of Youth Congress leaders on charges of synthetic drug trafficking.

Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan shared screenshots showing the removal of news reports about accusations regarding Satheesan's relationship with the accused. Satheesan clarified that his office or the government had not made any such requests to Meta. He expressed concern over the removal of three positive news items about his government, including one regarding praise from a Latin Archbishop for the government's interventions in the coastal sector.

The Kerala Chief Minister also requested Meta to grant access to the official CMO Keralam page on Instagram, but as of two months later, no decision had been made. He urged aggrieved news channels to file complaints with Meta and assured support for any such efforts. All removed posts and news reports originated from Meta-managed platforms, and screenshots presented by Vijayan indicated that access to multiple news reports from various news channels' Facebook pages was restricted under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.