Parliamentary panel to consider summoning Facebook over WSJ report on hate speech: Shashi Tharoor

Hours after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi shared a Wall Street Journal report that alleged that Facebook ignored hate speech rules on BJP-linked posts, party leader Shashi Tharoor said that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology “would certainly wish to hear” from Facebook about the report. Tharoor is the chairperson of the committee on Information Technology.

Our Parliamentary committee will, in the normal course, consider testimony under the topic “Safeguarding citizens’ rights & prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms”. The subject is squarely within the IT Cmt’s mandate& @Facebook has been summoned in the past. https://t.co/saoK8B7VCN

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 16, 2020

According to the Wall Street Journal report, Facebook’s top public policy executive in India, Ankhi Das, opposed applying hate-speech rules to at least four individuals and groups linked with the BJP despite the fact that they were “flagged internally for promoting or participating in violence.” Responding to the report, Rahul alleged that the BJP and the RSS control Facebook and Whatsapp in the country. He also alleged that they spread fake news and hatred through these social media platforms to influence the electorate.

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

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However, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union minister for electronics and information technology, responded to Rahul saying, “Losers who cannot influence people even in their own party keep cribbing that the entire world is controlled by BJP and RSS. You were caught red-handed in alliance with Cambridge Analytica and Facebook to weaponise data before the elections and now have the gall to question us?”