Read Full Statement Here (PDF)
The Sikh Council UK has today received a swathe of reports from Gurdwaras (Sikh places of Worship), Sikh Organisations and Sikh Individuals that posts they have made going back over a period of many years have today resulted in bans and their posts being blocked for reasons that don’t appear to hold any sway.
As the Sikh community pays it’s respect and remembrance to the thousands of Sikhs murdered in a targeted genocide in November 1984 in India, they are finding that their posts on the matter are being censored. This is particularly painful as many Sikhs lost friends and relatives in that genocide and the censorship of remembrance is to deny our history.
These report comes on the heel of the blocking of the #Sikh hashtag on Facebook and Instagram, two of the largest social media platforms. The incident came to light in early June during the run-up to the anniversary of the Indian army assault on the most holiest Sikh shrine the Darbar Sahib in Amritsar in 1984.
We call upon social media platforms to establish a dialogue with the the Sikh Council UK and other Sikh stakeholders to identify Sikh historical figures being reported for censorship.
Where content is restricted, there must be a clear mechanism within social media platforms to appeal the decision and have it reviewed by a human moderator well versed in the nuances of this topic. Social media platforms need to be aware that they are open to mass abuse by organised elements seeking to silence a whole community, their mechanisms need to be resilient to avoid this abuse.
-END –
Surjit Singh Dusanjh
Spokesperson, Sikh Council UK
Manmagun Singh Randhawa
Assistant Spokesperson, Sikh Council UK
Media enquiries: 07496505907 / info@sikhcouncil.co.uk
