NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The main party of Indian opposition Congress called on Sunday for a parliamentary panel to investigate what it said was favorable treatment by Facebook’s India team against the ruling party of the country.
FILE PHOTO: The Facebook logo can be seen in Davos, Switzerland January 20, 2020. Image taken January 20, 2020. REUTERS / Arnd Wiegmann
The party sat on a report published Friday by the Wall Street Journal, saying Facebook and WhatsApp staff monitoring Indian content refused to remove a lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, who burning remarks had been posted, to protect the ‘commercial interests’ of the company.
It deleted the comments instead, the Congress party said.
Facebook said it banned hate speech and content that incited violence and enforced this policy worldwide, regardless of one’s political position or party affiliation.
“While we know there is more to do, we are making progress on enforcement and conducting regular audits of our process to ensure accuracy and accuracy,” it said.
The Government of India did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Facebook Inc’s (FB.OWhatsApp, which counts India as its largest market with 400 million users, is waiting for regulatory clearances to launch a payment platform.
It has invested $ 5.7 billion in Reliance Industries’ (RELI.NS) digital unit, with the aim of serving tens of millions of small shops in India.
“Congress party calls for the establishment of a joint parliamentary committee to investigate the relations of Facebook and WhatsApp staff with the ruling party,” Congress party spokesman Ajay Maken said in a newsletter.
Maken also urges the company to launch an internal investigation into its Indian oversight team.
“This is a matter of Facebook’s global credibility,” he said.
Additional reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; edited by Barbara Lewis and Philippa Fletcher
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