Facebook allowed a video of Bajrang Dal claiming responsibility for an attack on a church. (Archive)
New Delhi:
Despite being labeled by Facebook’s security team as a potentially dangerous organization that supports violence against minorities across India, Bajrang Dal has been allowed to thrive on the social network for political and security considerations. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Facebook has been hesitant to act against the right-wing group linked to the ruling BJP because “cracking down on Bajrang Dal could jeopardize both the company’s business prospects and its staff in India,” the newspaper wrote, reaffirming its reporting earlier in the year. this year on the subject.
In August, the daily had reported an alleged bias in Facebook policies favoring the ruling BJP for business interests and said former Facebook executive Ankhi Das lobbied for a ruling party leader who made anti-Muslim comments.
Facebook, which banned the politician just days after the report was released, denied the most egregious charges, but admitted that it had to do better to curb hate speech. Das left the company shortly after.
The latest report from The Wall Street Journal cited Facebook’s actions surrounding a video of Bajrang Dal claiming responsibility for an attack on a church on the outskirts of New Delhi in June that was allowed to collect 2.5 billion views.
“In addition to risking enraging India’s ruling Hindu nationalist politicians, the Bajrang Dal ban could precipitate physical attacks on Facebook staff or facilities,” an internal Facebook report said, according to the newspaper.
“A group of Facebook employees said in an internal letter and Facebook discussion group posts that Bajrang Dal’s presence on its platform, among other organizations, casts doubt on the company’s commitment to addressing hate speech in India “, said.
Responding to the article, Facebook spokesman Andy Stone told the daily, “We enforce our policy on dangerous people and organizations globally without regard to political position or party affiliation.”
In October, Facebook, which has pumped billions of dollars into India, has five offices in the country and considers it its largest market in terms of users, defended itself before a parliamentary committee against allegations of bias and concerns about the protection of users. user data. .
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