The letter came after the opposition Congress attacked the Center, citing a media report that claimed that Facebook executive Ankhi Das voiced his support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 general election results.
In the letter, Prasad said that he was informed that in the run-up to 2019 Lok Sabha polls there was a “concerted effort” by Facebook India not only remove pages or substantially reduce their scope, but also offer no right of appeal to affected people who support the ideology of the center-right.
He said it is problematic when Facebook employees are registered “abusing” the Prime Minister and senior ministers of India while still working at Facebook India and managing important positions.
Furthermore, he wrote that the documented cases of “prejudice and inaction” are apparently a direct result of the dominant political beliefs of the individuals on his Facebook India team.
“As a transnational digital platform, Facebook should not only be fair, but also visibly seen as such, for users of diverse beliefs and ideologies.
“People who work in any organization can have their likes and dislikes, but that should have nothing to do with public policy and the organization’s performance,” the letter says.
I have been informed that in the lead up to 2019 LS Polls, FB India made a concerted effort to not only remove pages … https://t.co/axcgTDwAEQ
– ANI (@ANI) 1598964583000
Based on credible media reports, it appears that the Facebook India team, from the India Managing Director to other senior officials, is dominated by people who belong to a particular political belief. Having lost all democratic legitimacy, they are trying to discredit India’s democratic process by dominating the decision-making apparatus of major social media platforms, “wrote the Union minister.
Prasad said Facebook is the latest tool in his arsenal to stoke internal divisions and social unrest.
Speaking of the recent controversy, he wrote: “The flood of recent anonymous source-based reports is nothing more than an internal power struggle within your company for ideological hegemony.”
Condemning the interference in the political process in India, it alleged that “the collusion of a group of Facebook employees with the international media is giving way to vested interests to slander the democratic process of our country. democracy“.
Highlighting that Facebook has been a novel experiment in democratizing people’s expression, the BJP leader urged the Facebook CEO that this experiment should not be allowed to be hijacked by a pressure group that abhors freedom of expression and reject diversity.
Formerly Leader of Congress Rahul gandhi claimed that the international media have “exposed” Facebook and WhatsAppThe “blatant assault” on democracy and social harmony in India, as it demanded an investigation into the accusations against it.
With his tweet attacking the social media giant, Gandhi tagged a recent Wall Street Journal article about how Facebook employees raised questions about the neutrality of their India team after an executive posted internal messages allegedly favoring the BJP.
Dismissing the congressional accusations, BJP leaders have been alleging that Facebook favors other parties, and the ruling party’s TI cell chief Amit Malviya alleges a “Congress-Facebook nexus.”
Congress has written two letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeking action against his Indian team, an independent investigation into its operation and its replacement.
After a major political dispute broke out over the allegations against him, Facebook had previously said that its social media platform bans Hate speech and content that incites violence, adding that these policies apply globally regardless of political affiliation.
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