'Pretty bad service': Arvind Kejriwal claims Instagram account restricted in India, questions Meta

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday claimed that his Instagram account was restricted in India and accused Meta of failing to explain the reason behind the move. The former Delhi chief minister said he had contacted the company's India office but had not received any clear response on why the restriction was imposed or how it could be removed.

Raising the issue publicly, Kejriwal tagged Meta in a post on X and sought an explanation from the social media company.

Kejriwal questions Meta over account status

In his post, Kejriwal wrote, “Why have you restricted my account? Verbal enquiries at your India office revealed that my account has been restricted in India and is unavailable in India. Why?”

He further said, “None in your office is giving any reasons. None is suggesting how restrictions can be removed. All emails written have elicited no response other than routine acknowledgement.”

Calling the experience “pretty bad service”, Kejriwal also shared a screenshot of his Instagram account status. According to the screenshot, the account was shown as “unavailable in some locations”. At the same time, it indicated that none of his content had been removed, his reach was not restricted, all Instagram features remained available to him and his account continued to be monetised.

The AAP leader also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, “Else he will allow u to run only his own account in India.”

Meta's recent apology to the Centre

Kejriwal's remarks come a day after Meta apologised to the Union government over the temporary restriction of a Facebook video message posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the company, Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan met Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and apologised for the incident.

“I apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for error restricting PM Modi’s post,” Kaplan said in a statement.

The Centre had reportedly summoned Meta's senior global executives after a Facebook post by Modi, addressed to the youth of India on July 28 and promising strict action against paper leaks, remained unavailable on the platform for around five hours. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads the parliamentary committee on IT, had earlier said the post could not be accessed between 12.30 am and 5.30 am.