In a recent development, Portugal's far-right party Chega has announced its plan to take legal action against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, over the decision to restrict its Facebook account for 10 years. Chega, the third-largest political party in Portugal, had its account restricted for 3,649 days due to activity that 'disrespected our community standards'. The party argues that Meta did not provide an opportunity to appeal the decision and plans to challenge it in court.
Chega's leader, Andre Ventura, has condemned the account restriction as 'unacceptable censorship' and has called on supporters to express their indignation. The party has a significant presence on social media, with 199,000 followers on Facebook and over 280,000 followers on TikTok. The legal action taken by Chega highlights the ongoing battle between social media platforms and political parties over content moderation and freedom of speech.
This incident adds to the growing number of conflicts between political parties and social media platforms regarding content moderation and censorship. It raises questions about the power of social media platforms to restrict political speech and the extent to which they should be held accountable for their decisions. The outcome of Chega's legal action could have implications for the future of political discourse on social media platforms in Portugal and beyond.