A day after US newspaper Wall Street Journal exposed how social media giant Facebook ignored hate speeches made by BJP leader, Facebook issued a clarification saying it does not discriminate on the basis of political ideology.
“We prohibit hate speech and content that incites violence and we enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone's political position or party affiliation. While we know there is more to do, we're making progress on enforcement and conducting regular audits of our process to ensure fairness and accuracy,” said Facebook.
In the report titled “Facebook Hate-Speech Rules Collide With Indian Politics -- Company executive opposed move to ban controversial politician”, the WSJ reported that Facebook looks the other way in cases of hate speech made by BJP leaders.
The WSJ also reported that a top level executive of Facebook’s India operations, Ankhi Das had said punishing violations by BJP workers “would damage the company’s business prospects in the country”.Blaming Facebook for ‘destroying democracy in India’, Congress has however, reiterated its demand for a JPC probe.
“With all responsibility I will say that Facebook’s inaction destabilises our democracy. More often than not Facebook takes no action and even worse, allows objectionable content to continue despite being brought to notice,” said Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate.
Saying that “Facebook is replete with hate posts that continue to fester animosity”, Shrinate said, “It is now clear that despite being reported by its own team, no action is taken”.
Shrinate pointed out that Facbook India policy head Ankhi Das' links with the BJP and RSS affiliated ABVP go back a long way.
“Her identical twin sister Ms Rashmi Das was not just ABVP General Secretary at JNU but she continues to be an ABVP activist and was a prominent voice that supported violence on the campus,” she said.Reiterating Congress’ demand for a JPC probe, Shrinate said, “We also expect Facebook global to look into discrepancies that exist in its India operations and we hope Facebook will take immediate remedial measures”.
