Facebook tenders apology, restores Srijato's poem on wall

Srijato's poem, which was removed from his Facebook wall by the concerned authorities on Friday citing "displaying hate speech" and alleged violation of "community standards," was put back on Sunday morning.

A message from Facebook sent to Srijato said that the American for-profit corporation and online social media and social networking service was apologetic and stated: "This was a mistake and we sincerely apologise for this error."

Following the post of the poem Abhishap (which means curse in Bengali), Srijato had received massive criticism on his Facebook wall. The social media trollers left no stone unturned to defame him.

An FIR was lodged against him at Siliguri Cyber Crime police station by the Hindu Sanghati, a non-political organisation. The allegation of the complainant was that the poem had hurt the religious sentiments. Many people also alleged that the poet actually aimed to spread tirade against newly elected Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Later, a case was filed at Siliguri court under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 of the Cyber Crime Act.

Facebook, on the other hand, removed the post on Friday at around 7:28 pm after getting several reports of "hate speech" from the other users. After a review, the authority of the social networking website removed the post mentioning: "We reviewed the share you reported for displaying hate speech. Since it violated out Community Standards, we removed it. Thanks for your report. We let Srijato Bandyopadhyay know that their share has been removed, but not who reported it."

However, on Sunday, at around 9:19 am, Facebook expressed an apology to the poet. "Hello, a member of our team accidentally removed something you posted on Facebook. This was a mistake, and we sincerely apologise for this error. We've since restored the content, and you should now be able to see it," wrote the Facebook Team.

Srijato expressed his satisfaction and said: "I am happy. This is a win for me and those people who supported me throughout on this issue."

It may be recalled that a member of the Hindu Sanghati, Arnab Sarkar, had filed an FIR against Srijato.

The Investigating Officer (IO) of Siliguri Cyber Crime police station, Abhijit Saha initiated the case at court.

Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code which was slapped in the poet's case is a non-bailable warrant. The section mentions injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class.

Sudip Basunia, the public prosecutor, had earlier informed that the accused could be given three years' imprisonment if he was found guilty. But the poet could appeal for an anticipatory bail.