The Instagram account of satirical page The Saval Vada, popularly known for its quirky takes at governments, has been withheld in India.
The page has 85,000 followers and is reportedly operated by a 22-year-old creator and his team from Kerala. The Savala Vada took to X, saying, “Sup we just got banned from the world’s largest democracy,” with hashtags of #MotherOfDemocracy, #NotSatire, and #SavalaVadaFried.
“Account withheld in India. This is because we complied with the legal request to restrict this content,” so reads its Instagram page.
Its memes resemble the front page of a newspaper, with large headlines and images that are usually related to current events and online discussions.
Following the ban, The Savala Vada posted a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a hammer aimed at its account. “World’s Largest Democracy Bans Satire Meme Page” read its earlier caption, which has now been taken down.
It also highlighted recent Bollywood movie plots which are controversial, human rights abuses at regular intervals and caste atrocities and having the largest population of people below the poverty line.
“As India reels from issues concerning the foundations of its Constitution, Kangana Ranaut, civil unrest, plane tragedies, flooding in Assam, recent Bollywood movie plots, human rights abuses in the peripheries, food insecurity, Vir Das, caste atrocities and having the largest population of people below the poverty line, the Republic of India strongly asserts its priorities by politely asking Meta to take down a satire news page on Instagram,” read the now deleted post.
The team termed the ban as ridiculous and said, “While we may have anticipated this coming from afar, the timing and reach of such an action seems ridiculous, but then so is the state of our democracy.”
Reacting to the ban with sarcasm, The Savala Vada said that the Centre has got its priorities right by banning an Instagram account.
The page was launched on July 21, 2023, by a person named J. It is inspired by The Onion, a United States digital media company that publishes satirical articles on local and international news.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Mohammed Baleegh | 
