Facebook Might Block Your Account If You are A **Chutiya**

An article by ankit jain    No Comments         

Confusion over ‘Chutia’ surname, Facebook blocks accounts

Social networking site Facebook has blocked accounts of ‘thousands’ of Chutia community subscribers believing them to be false and fabricated. Chutia pronounced Sutia, is an old ethnic tribe in the State of Assam in India, while this word, when used as a Hindi slang, is an abusive word.

Addressing a press conferrence in Jorhat, The All Assam Chutia Students’ Union (Aacsu) general secretary Jyotiprasad Chutia said: “‘Facebook has blocked the accounts of all the subscribers belonging to the Chutia community of Assam thinking the names are false and fabricated. For Chutia commonly-used as a derogatory term in the Hindi language, Facebook authorities thought that the account holders are fake. But, they are still unknown to the fact that Chutia is an ethnic tribe of Assam which has a rich historical background in the state history.”

The students’ organization demanded public apology from the social networking website for their action. Aacsu also decided to burn an effigy of the social networking site in the five upper Assam districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat and Golaghat on Monday.

“They even failed to verify the truth when they blocked the accounts of some prominent personalities and popular artists like Krishnamoni Chutia, who belongs to our community,” adds Jyotiprasad.

It’s notable that social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Google+ insist on users using their real names on their profiles.

Facebook and other social networking sites are flooded with fake accounts. However, these sites allow users to block/report such fabricated accounts. Facebook’s move to block “Chutia” word may be seen as a step towards monitoring the “offensive content”. But in a country like India where there are many languages and dialects spoken, taking any similar move in haste could be counterproductive.