File photo of BJP MLA T Raja Singh.
The statement says the process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and is what led to Facebook’s decision to delete Singh’s account.
- News18.com New Delhi
- Last update: September 3, 2020 12:03 PM IST
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Facebook, under pressure for weeks for its handling of hate speech, banned BJP MLA T Raja Singh from its platform and Instagram on Thursday for violating its policy on content promoting violence and hate.
A Facebook spokesperson in a statement said: “We have banned Raja Singh from Facebook for violating our policy that prohibits those who promote or engage in violence and hatred from having a presence on our platform. The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and is what led us to Facebook’s decision to delete your account. “
Facebook, which counts India among its largest markets with more than 300 million users, has been in the eye of a storm after a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report alleged that its content policies favored the ruling BJP in India. The report alleged that Facebook had ignored posts containing hate speech by BJP MLA Raja Singh. Since then, the ruling BJP and Congress have been exchanging criticism about the social media giant’s alleged bias.
In the wake of the WSJ report, a parliamentary panel had convened Facebook representatives to discuss the issue of the alleged misuse of the social media platform on Wednesday. On Tuesday, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had also written to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, accusing employees of the social media platform of supporting politically minded people who lost successive elections and “abusing” the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers.
The IT minister said the Facebook-related media leaks are the result of a war of internal ideologies at the social media giant. Furthermore, the elements are trying to use Facebook to undermine India’s democratic process, he said.
Wednesday’s panel meeting, which lasted two hours and 20 minutes, was like a hotly contested match between the BJP and the opposition with MPs from both sides asking Facebook for its leanings. Both sides cited examples of hate speech, while the opposition cited hateful comments from Telangana MLA Raja Singh and Amit Shah’s speech in Bengal, the BJP spoke of Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s comments from ‘aar ya paar ki ladai ‘and anti “provocateur” -CAA comments made by former JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar.
MPs asked Facebook what steps have been taken and how many of those actions were suo motu. According to sources, representatives of the social media platform said they have no such numbers to cite. However, in most cases, action has been taken only after receiving a complaint.
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