Delhi panel to summon Facebook executives over hate speech row
A Delhi panel is planning to summon Facebook executives amid allegations that the social media platform did not act against hate speech on its platform by politicians of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Delhi Assembly committee is headed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Raghav Chadha. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has summoned Facebook representatives on September 2.
According to NDTV, the Chadha-led panel will summon Facebook executives soon. The panel on peace and harmony had taken the statements of journalists Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Nikhil Pahwa, Regina Mihindukulasuriya. The Wall Street Journal had reported earlier this month that a senior Facebook India policy executive, Ankhi Das, had deliberately ignored incendiary posts by BJP politicians despite the posts being flagged internally.
The panel on peace and harmony was established after the national capital witnessed the worst riots in decades. The riots were fueled over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act. The panel also raised questions about the content shared on Facebook at the time of the violence, that took place in Northeast Delhi in February earlier this year.
During the panel's proceedings, Thakurta was reportedly asked if he knew about Das' link with the BJP as alleged in his 2019 book 'The Real Face of Facebook in India'. Pahwa, who runs the tech policy analysis website MediaNama, said, "If we see Facebook's past, it doesn't act until pulled up." Chadha said that the names of Facebook executives summoned will be shared soon.
Separately, the Parliamentary IT panel, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, will hear Facebook representatives on September 2. The panel has also asked representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to remain present on the same day. Facebook has meanwhile claimed that it is an "open, transparent and non-partisan platform," detailing its policies against hate speech.
