Facebook, Instagram unblock hashtag #sikh, apologize

JALANDHAR: In the face of sharp criticism and queries from Sikh netizens across the globe, Instagram and Facebook unblocked hashtag #sikh after nearly 3 months saying, "Our processes fell down here, and we're sorry". They referred to the Sikh community was passing through a painful memory - a reference to Operation Bluestar carried out by the Army to flush out militants holed up in the Golden Temple in June 1984.
Even as a reply from Facebook and Instagram revealed that the hashtag #sikh was blocked three months back, several Sikh netizens only found out about it on Wednesday while posting material pertaining to the 36th anniversary of Operation Bluestar.
As the word spread on these two platforms and on Twitter, Sikh netizens began slamming, shaming and questioning the social media giants, which then swung into action. On Wednesday late night, @InstagramComms - Instagram's PR team posted five tweets announcing that they had unblocked the hashtag: "We have unblocked the hashtag #sikh on Instagram and are working to unblock #sikh on Facebook. We're investigating why this happened. We will follow up here later today with more information."
‘Hashtags mistakenly blocked’
Three hours later they informed "#sikh is now unblocked on Facebook”.
This was followed by the Instagram team posting three more tweets, saying "… We investigated this issue and found that these hashtags were mistakenly blocked on March 7th following a report that was inaccurately reviewed by our teams."
"We became aware that these hashtags were blocked today following feedback we received a and quickly moved to unblock them. Our processes fell down here, and we’re sorry".
Another tweet implicitly acknowledged that the community is going through painful memories of Op Bluestar. "This is an incredibly important, painful time for Sikh community. We designed hashtags to allow people to come together and share with one another. It's never our intention to silence the voices of this community, we are taking the necessary steps so this doesn’t happen again." However, several netizens posted queries to @Instagram-Comms seeking a full explanation on how was the hashtag #sikh was blocked.