A showdown is at stake Wednesday at the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology chaired by Shashi Tharoor of Congress, where Members of Parliament (MPs) will hear the allegations made by Rupert Murdoch-owned publication The Wall Street Journal ( WSJ) in recent reports against the social media company Facebook.
Facebook, based in California’s Menlo Park, ignored hate speech posted by the leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other right-wing groups, as it would have hurt the company’s business interests in India, its market. larger, the WSJ report alleged in its first report in August.
The House panel has 30 members, of which at least 15 belong to the BJP and its allies, who are part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The Congress has three members, while other regional parties such as the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Telangana Rashtriya Samity (TRS), Shiv Sena, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) and the Communist Party of the India (Marxists) are represented by one MP each.
Also look at RS Prasad writes on Facebook; alleges political bias, criticizes ‘selective leaks’
Most opposition parties like DMK, TRS, TMC and CPI (M) have backed Tharoor’s offer to seek an explanation on Facebook for the WSJ reports.
However, BJP MPs like Nishikant Dubey have argued that Snehlata Shrivastava, the secretary general of the 17th Lok Sabha, is only authorized to subpoena one witness.
The panel meeting on Tuesday was interrupted in honor of the late President Pranab Mukherjee, whose last rites were performed after his passing the day before.
The panel was scheduled to hear from the Union Ministry of the Interior (MHA), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and officials about internet outages, especially in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
According to panel members, who did not want to be named, both the BJP and Congress are ready to corner Facebook over their political decisions.
A BJP deputy said that the letter from the Minister of the Union of Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, had set the tone for the BJP attack on Facebook.
On Tuesday, Prasad had attacked Facebook for its biases against right-wing groups and demanded an investigation into the conduct of an employee of the social media company for making allegedly uncharitable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“A lot of people on Facebook are associated with Congress. We intend to address that matter at the meeting, ”said a member of parliament, requesting anonymity.
A second MP from the opposition camp said they would push for the removal of Ankhi Das, Facebook’s director of public policy for India, South and Central Asia.
Das has been at the center of much controversy since the WSJ’s first report questioning his pro-BJP actions was published.
He had allegedly objected to applying hate speech rules to T Raja Singh, the only BJP lawmaker in the Telangana assembly, even though his provocative and inflammatory Facebook posts had repeatedly targeted Muslims, according to the report.
According to a new report in the WSJ published on Sunday night, Das also praised Prime Minister Modi as the “strong man”, who had broken the socialist control of Congress in the country.
Although the comment was made on a Facebook group designed for his employees in India, it was open to a global audience.
Congress and CPI (M) have demanded a criminal investigation into Facebook’s actions.
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