NEW DELHI: Facebook India refused to rank Bajrang Dal as a “dangerous organization” on the platform, saying it could lead to “physical attacks” against company personnel and damage its business prospects, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Deputy Secretary General Surendra Jain told TOI that the organization would initiate legal proceedings against the WSJ for “defaming” it. “This is a conspiracy primarily to defame and insult India under the guise of attacking Bajrang Dal. We will not accept this insult and will take legal action against WSJ,” said Jain, who has also been a senior Bajrang Dal official. in the past. Both Bajrang Dal and VHP are part of the larger parivar Sangh.
Congress MP Rahul gandhi shared a video clip from a news channel that broadcast the WSJ report and wrote: “One more confirmation that BJP-RSS controls Facebook in India.”
Facebook, however, denied any bias against or towards any political party. “We ban individuals or entities after following a careful, rigorous and multidisciplinary process. We enforce our Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy globally without regard to political position or party affiliation,” said a Facebook spokesperson. to TOI.
WSJ quoted Facebook spokesman Andy Stone as confirming that the possibility that Bajrang Dal could endanger Facebook’s interests and employees was “a topic of discussion as part of the standard process.”
The problem was flagged after a Pentecostal church was attacked on the outskirts of New Delhi in June, according to the WSJ report. The attackers beat a pastor, claimed the church was built on top of a Hindu temple and installed an idol, according to the report.
Bajrang Dal members claimed responsibility in a video describing the raid that has been viewed nearly 250,000 times on Facebook. The social media company’s security team earlier this year concluded that Bajrang Dal supported violence against minorities across India and likely called it a “dangerous organization” that should be banned from the platform, according to people familiar with the matter, “the report said.
Facebook India, however, “opposed” the suggestion, citing reports from the company’s internal security team, which warned that the action against Bajrang Dal could jeopardize both the company’s business prospects and its staff in India. “In addition to risking enraging India’s ruling Hindu nationalist politicians, banning Bajrang Dal could precipitate physical attacks on Facebook staff or facilities,” according to the internal security team report, cited by the WSJ.
The article added that the security team also issued warnings about the risks of banishing two other right-wing Hindu nationalist groups active on the platform: Sanatan Sanstha and Sri Ram Sena.
According to the WSJ report, Facebook’s human rights staff has internally designated India as a “Tier One” country. This means that India “runs the highest risk of social violence and therefore requires greater efforts by the company to protect vulnerable populations.” This places it alongside Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. Facebook did not respond to a question from TOI on how ranking is carried out at these levels and on what parameters or if India was classified as a level 1 country.
Facebook’s Dangerous People and Organizations Policy aims to prevent and disrupt real-world harm by banning individuals and entities from the platform, including those who are involved in “terrorist activities, organized hatred, mass murder, and human trafficking. “. On September 3, the social media giant had banned BJP politician T Raja Singh.
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