UK and Canadian parliamentarians called on Instagram to reinstate Tamil Guardian's page after it was disabled yesterday without prior warning.
Elliot Colburn, MP for Carshalton and Wallington and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Tamils (APPGT) called the ban "completely unacceptable" and that the APPGT will be making representations to the social media platform.
This is completely unacceptable! The APPG for Tamils will be making urgent representations to Instagram over this very worrying move. https://t.co/9dfbEgsg9i
— Elliot Colburn MP (@ElliotColburn) October 28, 2021
Sam Tarry MP for Ilford South also expressed concern over the "extremely worrying act of online censorship" and highlighted Tamil Guardian's role in "exposing the injustice inflicted on the Tamil people."
This is an extremely worrying act of online censorship.
The @TamilGuardian has played a pivotal role in exposing the injustices inflicted on the #Tamil people in Sri Lanka and providing a voice to the oppressed.
I call on @Facebook and @instagram to reverse this decision. https://t.co/PdbJgRq8De
— Sam Tarry MP (@SamTarry) October 28, 2021
Gareth Thomas MP for Harrow West called on Instagram and Facebook to "urgently" inform Tamil Guardian as to why the page has been disabled.
I think the Trustees & Management of @TamilGuardian shd be told urgently why @instagram & @Facebook have disabled their page. At first glance this seems like a clear case of online censorship. Either way clarity on why this was done and the way forward is essential https://t.co/yOeGchNtDD
— Gareth Thomas MP (@GarethThomasMP) October 28, 2021
Wes Streeting MP for Ilford North called the ban "unacceptable".
This is unacceptable @Facebook @instagram. https://t.co/YwMxVLMdgH
— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) October 28, 2021
Canadian politicians also expressed their full support to the Tamil Guardian. Gary Anandasangaree, MP for Scarborough Rouge-Park, condemned the ban as a "reprehensible move" that silences "peaceful and democratic voices of the Tamil nation."
I stand in full solidarity with Tamil Guardian. This is a reprehensible move by Instagram to shut down @tamilguardian and to silence peaceful and democratic voices of the Tamil nation. This must stop. I call for an immediate reinstatement of this account. https://t.co/tJfDWGyyxS
— Gary Anandasangaree (@gary_srp) October 27, 2021
Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, expressed his solidarity and stressed that the act of censorship was an "outrageous" move and called on Instagram to "immediately reinstate" the account.
I stand with the Tamil Guardian. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. This is an outrageous censorship of democratic voices. Instagram should have never shut down @tamilguardian. @instagram should immediately reinstate their account. @gary_srp @VijayThaniMPP @LoganKanapathi @melaniejoly https://t.co/OSQemYcdON
— Patrick Brown (@patrickbrownont) October 28, 2021
The removal of our Instagram page follows a campaign of censorship of our posts on Instagram and Facebook. In recent years, content on our social media platforms has been removed for supposedly violating Facebook’s community guidelines
Tamil Guardian's Instagram page was disabled despite efforts to reach our to Facebook and Instagram. The disabling of our page silences our work on a major platform with an audience of over 19,000 followers.
Read our full statement here.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
