India’s main opposition Congress party called yesterday for a parliamentary panel to investigate what it said was favourable treatment by Facebook’s India team towards the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Citing a report published by the Wall Street Journal on Friday, the Congress said employees of Facebook and WhatsApp overseeing Indian content had refused to bar a lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP who had posted incendiary comments, to protect the company’s “commercial interests”.
It deleted the comments instead, the Congress party said.
Facebook said it prohibited hate speech and content that incited violence and enforced 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 conduct regular audits of our process to ensure fairness and accuracy,” it said.
India’s government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp, which counts India as its biggest market with 400mn users, is waiting for regulatory clearances to launch a payment platform.
It has invested $5.7bn in Reliance Industries’ digital unit, with the aim of serving tens of millions of small shops across India.
“Congress party demands the setting up of a joint parliamentary committee to probe the relations of Facebook and WhatsApp employees with the ruling party,” Ajay Maken, spokesman of the Congress party said at a news briefing.
Maken also urged the company to launch an internal inquiry into its Indian oversight team.
“This is an issue of Facebook’s global credibility,” he said.
“BJP and RSS control Facebook and WhatsApp in India,” former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, referring to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the ruling party.
“They spread fake news and hatred through it and use it to influence the electorate,” Gandhi tweeted.
“Finally, the American media has come out with the truth about Facebook,” he added tagging a Wall Street Journal report on the issue.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted: “Facebook – WhatsApp sinister connection to BJP government exposed! Is Facebook being used to spread ‘Fake News’ and ‘Hate Material’? What is the connect of Facebook-India leaders to BJP?
“Does it not warrant a JPC probe?”
Congress Data Department chairman Praveen Chakravorty said: “I met the WhatsApp CEO and raised the issue in the past after the Congress Working Committee took it up, and the CEO heard me politely but did not act.”
The Congress said it had raised the issue with the Facebook team in India.
“We met the team of Ankhi Das on May 15 and complained about the manipulative content; the team heard us but did nothing,” claimed Rohan Gupta, Congress Social Media head.
Das is the Public Policy Director, Facebook-India, South and Central Asia.
“What gave Facebook the guts and the gumption to intrude, interfere, and intervene in the world’s largest democratic exercise? First and foremost, we must remember that this is not just about Facebook. Facebook also owns WhatsApp.
Facebook and WhatsApp control information, news, and communication for millions of Indians. And the BJP controls Facebook and WhatsApp in India,” said Chakravorty.
Asked if the Congress lost past elections due to this “manipulation”, the Congress leaders said it is not only elections but its effect on the nation as a whole.
