New Delhi: In a letter to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, the Congress Tuesday demanded an “impartial investigation” into the company’s India operations after a Wall Street Journal report indicated that the US social media giant is favouring the BJP.
The party also called for a new team to lead the Facebook India operations until the inquiry is complete.
In the letter, general secretary K.C. Venugopal said the Congress is deeply disappointed to note that Facebook may be “a willing participant in thwarting the very rights and values that our founding leaders sacrificed their lives for”.
Former party chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted the letter, saying, “We cannot allow any manipulation of our hard-earned democracy through bias, fake news and hate speech.”
We cannot allow any manipulation of our hard-earned democracy through bias, fake news & hate speech.
As exposed by @WSJ, Facebook’s involvement in peddling fake and hate news needs to be questioned by all Indians. pic.twitter.com/AvBR6P0wAK
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 18, 2020
The letter came a day after party leader Shashi Tharoor, who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, tweeted that the panel would “wish to hear from Facebook about these reports & what they propose to do about hate-speech in India”.
. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology would certainly wish to hear from @Facebook about these reports & what they propose to do about hate-speech in India.
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 16, 2020
He was referring to the 14 August WSJ report that named Ankhi Das, Facebook India’s public policy director, as being allegedly responsible for protecting BJP leaders from any action despite their violation of the company’s hate speech rules.
Also read: Agree with Rahul that non-Gandhi should be Congress president — Priyanka Gandhi in new book
‘Repeatedly raised issues’
In the letter, Congress asked Zuckerberg to “set up a high-level inquiry by Facebook headquarters into the Facebook India leadership team”.
“…until the completion of the internal investigation and submission of the report, please consider to lead Facebook India operations by a new team so as to not influence the investigation,” said Venugopal.
The Congress also claimed that it “has repeatedly raised the issue of bias with many executives of Facebook and Whatsapp”. It demanded that Facebook make public all the instances of hate speech that were allowed on the platform since 2014.
“On a closer perusal, you will find thousands of such insidious posts,” it said.
On Sunday, Das submitted a written complaint to the Delhi Police Cyber Cell, alleging that she received a number of violent threats in the aftermath of the WSJ report.
“We take the safety and security of our employees seriously and care for their well-being. However, we do not comment on individual employee matters,” a Facebook spokesperson had told ThePrint on the issue.
Congress and BJP tussle on Facebook
The letter to Zuckerburg comes as the party sought to attack the ruling BJP for its alleged “nexus” with Facebook.
On Sunday, Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Narendra Modi government saying that the “BJP & RSS control Facebook & Whatsapp in India”.
BJP & RSS control Facebook & Whatsapp in India.
They spread fake news and hatred through it and use it to influence the electorate.
Finally, the American media has come out with the truth about Facebook. pic.twitter.com/Y29uCQjSRP
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 16, 2020
Praveen Chakravarty, the chairperson of the Congress’ Data Analytics team, also released video statements accusing Facebook of bias and saying it is “not limited to just one person” in the company.
“There are many others in that leadership team with a close working relationship with people in the BJP,” Chakravarty said.
The bias and alignment of the Facebook India’s leadership team with the BJP and RSS is not limited to just 1 person or their Head of Public Policy in. There are many others in that leadership team with a close working relationship with people in the BJP: Shri @pravchak pic.twitter.com/jCTy9mRgRb
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 17, 2020
However, the BJP reacted sharply to these allegations with Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeting, “Losers who cannot influence people even in their own party keep cribbing that the entire world is controlled by BJP & RSS”.
Losers who cannot influence people even in their own party keep cribbing that the entire world is controlled by BJP & RSS.
You were caught red-handed in alliance with Cambridge Analytica & Facebook to weaponise data before the elections & now have the gall to question us? https://t.co/NloUF2WZVY
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) August 16, 2020
Party leader and former minister of state for information and broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, in an opinion piece in The Indian Express Monday, came to the party’s defence — accusing the Congress and the Left of curtailing free speech.
Also read: How Rajasthan, Maharashtra & Manipur crises have showcased rise of Team Rahul in Congress
Pappu is a moron. Does anyone care what he says?
It’s time for another one his idiotic videos with his silly curly hair and stupid looking skin tan.
Just laughable. “Dynast”… “scion”…my ass.
The anger is two fold
1) When MODIJI’s government banned CHINESE APPS……CHINESE SUPPORTERS came out against Facebook and whattsapp both American apps..
2) PAID JOURNALISTS WHO WORKED AS CONGRASS and anti HINDU PROPAGANDIST are no more able to own communication as social media is being used to dismantle fake and biased news. And so called “Super journalist ” have been exposed as mere congrass and anti HINDU zealots.
3) Rioters and their supporters can no longer peddle themselves as innocent victims. As social media is used to expose rioters and fake news PROJECTING them as victims.
4) Democracy is being sought to be throttled by asking for banning or controlling social media, to allow once again news by few as was the case for most of past 60 years.
Pappu is a hybrid of a donkey and a goat.