In a three-page letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ,Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has raised concerns over the “political predisposition” of the social media giant’s India team and senior Facebook officials “on record abusing Prime Minister and senior cabinet ministers”.
The letter read, “It is problematic when Facebook employees are on record abusing the Prime Minister and senior Cabinet Ministers of India while still working in Facebook India and managing important positions. It is doubly problematic when the bias of individuals becomes an inherent bias of the platform.”
India’s minister for information technology and law Ravi Shankar Prasad raised concerns on Tuesday over the deletion of some pages and posts on Facebook, accusing some employees of the social media platform in India of bias and inaction.
In the middle of a huge controversy over reports alleging that a Facebook executive was biased towards members of the ruling BJP and did not act on incendiary posts, India’s minister for information technology and law Ravi Shankar Prasad, has another story to share.
“There was a concerted effort by Facebook India management to not just delete pages or substantially reduce their reach but also offer no recourse or right of appeal to affected people who are supportive of the right-of-centre ideology,” Prasad said in the letter.
Prasad emphasised that Facebook must not only be fair and neutral but also appear to be so to the users of diverse beliefs and ideologies. The minister stressed that in any organisation there may be employees with their own individual likes or dislikes, but this must not have any bearing on the public policies of the organisation. “It seems from credible media reports that Facebook India team, right from the India Managing Director to other senior officials, is dominated by people who belong to a particular political belief. People from this political predisposition have been overwhelmingly defeated by the people of in successive free and fair elections,” the minister wrote.
There have been “multiple instances recently where Facebook has been used by anarchic and radical elements whose sole aim is to destroy social order, recruit people and assemble them for violence. However, we are yet to see any meaningful action against such elements. Is this action also held back by the same vested interest groups who have an incentive in stoking political violence and instability in India?” Prasad wrote.
The IT minister raised concerns that in the run-up to the 2019 election, “there was a concerted effort by the Facebook India management to not just delete pages or substantially reduce their reach but also offer no recourse or right of appeal to affected people who are supportive of the right-of-centre ideology”.
“I am also aware that dozens of emails written to Facebook management received no response. The above-documented cases of bias and inaction are seemingly a direct outcome of the dominant political beliefs of individuals in your Facebook India team,” Prasad said.
Prasad cited “credible media reports” that the Facebook India team, right from the managing director to other senior officials, “is dominated by people who belong to a particular political belief”.
A report published in the Wall Street Journal said the social networking site did not apply hate speech rules on members of the ruling party. In a second report, WSJ alleged that Ankhi Das, head of public policy in Facebook India, “made internal postings over several years” detailing her support for the ruling BJP and disparaging its main rival Congress.
Prasad has written the letter in the backdrop of growing criticism against the Centre over two recent reports in the Wall Street Journal over Facebook’s biased approach while dealing with posts from members of the BJP and the rightwing. The Congress has been targetting the BJP after articles published in US media.