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Bulgarian satirical Facebook pages removed amid censorship allegations
Three satirical Facebook pages—‘Kopeykin’, ‘Puilo’, and ‘BG Elves’—were simultaneously removed on October 24. The disappearance of the pages occurred within approximately thirty minutes, a timing that coincided with a day of reflection before elections.
Ivaylo Mirchev, co-chairman of ‘Da, Bulgaria’, raised concerns regarding potential state interference. He suggested that the Ministry of Interior (MoI) or the State Agency for National Security (DANS) might have abused their authority to censor content that mocks government officials. Mirchev stated he has contacted high-level Facebook representatives to investigate whether state institutions misused platform reporting tools to trigger the removals.
The Ministry of Interior denied any involvement by the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP). The Ministry suggested the deactivations could have resulted from mass user reporting or a direct decision by Meta, the parent company of Facebook. No official statement has been released by Meta regarding the specific reasons for the removals. New pages have already been established to replace the deleted ones, quickly gaining thousands of followers.
Entities
Bulgaria · Facebook · Ivaylo Mirchev · Ministry of Interior · State Agency for National Security
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 3 SOURCES] Mirchev contacted Facebook representatives to investigate potential abuse of power. petel.bg
- [● 3 SOURCES] The Ministry of Interior denied that GDBOP was involved in the deactivation. petel.bg
- [● 2 SOURCES] New pages have been created to replace the removed satirical accounts. petel.bg
- [● 3 SOURCES] The Ministry suggested the removals could be due to mass user reporting or a Meta decision. petel.bg
- [● 3 SOURCES] Ivaylo Mirchev suspects the Ministry of Interior or DANS of involvement in the removals. petel.bg
- [● 3 SOURCES] The Facebook pages ‘Kopeykin’, ‘Puilo’, and ‘BG Elves’ were removed on October 24. petel.bg