NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Centre over its newly introduced social media law, alleging that it is aimed at silencing criticism of the government and reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s growing fear of public protests.Addressing supporters, former Delhi CM Kejriwal claimed the new law would require social media platforms to take down any post flagged by the government within three hours.“The Modi government has introduced a new law. If the government asks any social media platform, whether Instagram, Facebook or any other platform, to delete a post or video, it will have to be removed within three hours,” he said.He alleged that the provision would be used to target posts critical of the government on issues such as paper leaks, the ethanol policy and corruption, while allowing abusive content from its supporters to remain online.“If you speak against Modi ji, the government, paper leaks, the ethanol issue or corruption, your post will be deleted within three hours. But if people associated with them use abusive language or target women, no action is taken against such content,” he alleged.AAP chief Kejriwal further claimed that Prime Minister Modi has become increasingly anxious after recent youth-led protests and demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.“Modi ji fears the people of this country. He fears the youth, children and women. Ever since the protests at Jantar Mantar, he has been gripped by fear,” Kejriwal alleged.Arguing that censorship cannot substitute governance, the former Delhi chief minister said silencing criticism would only deepen public resentment.
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“The solution is not to silence people’s voices. If the government does good work, people will praise it on their own. The public has no personal enmity with anyone. But if you suppress criticism instead of addressing people’s concerns, public anger will only grow,” he said.Kejriwal also warned that governments that fear their own citizens eventually lose public support.“The days of a ruler who fears his own people are numbered. The more you try to suppress the voices of the people, the stronger their anger will become,” he said.Earlier to this, Kejriwal also claimed that Meta restricted his account and slammed Mark Zuckerberg-led social media giant.
