Facebook Avoided Taking Action on Bajrang Dal's Video Over Concerns for Business Prospects & Staff Security, Says WSJ Report
The US social media giant, Facebook allowed Bajrang Dal to continue posting content on its platform despite being tagged by its security team as a 'potentially dangerous organisation that supports violence against minorities across India' owing to political and safety concerns.
New Delhi, December 14: The US social media giant, Facebook allowed Bajrang Dal to continue posting content on its platform despite being tagged by its security team as a 'potentially dangerous organisation that supports violence against minorities across India' owing to political and safety concerns, said a report by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. "Besides risking infuriating India's ruling Hindu nationalist politicians, banning Bajrang Dal might precipitate physical attacks against Facebook personnel or facilities," an internal Facebook report said, as per WSJ. Facebook-BJP Row: Privilege Motion Moved Against Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor by Nishikant Dubey.
The report is based on Facebook's action on a video posted by Bajrang Dal in which the right-wing group has claimed the responsibility for an attack on a church outside New Delhi in June. The company avoided taking any action on it as "cracking down on Bajrang Dal might endanger both the company's business prospects and its staff in India," wrote the newspaper. Facebook, Twitter Summoned by Parliament's Joint Panel Over Data Protection and Privacy.
It has been reported that a group of Facebook's employees criticised the company's inaction towards the post. "A group of Facebook's employees said in an internal letter and posts on Facebook discussion groups that the presence of Bajrang Dal on its platform, among other organisations, casts doubt on the company's commitment to tackle hate speech in India," the report added.
As a response to the claim, Andy Stone, a Facebook's spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the company executes its policy against Dangerous Organisations to all such groups alike in every country. "We enforce our Dangerous Individuals and Organisations policy globally without regard to political position or party affiliation," said Stone.
This comes months after a report in WSJ created a ruckus in India, after it claimed that the social media giant favoured BJP, for its business interests. Published in August, the report said on an alleged bias in Facebook's policies that favoured the ruling BJP out of business interests and said former Facebook executive Ankhi Das lobbied in favour of a leader of the ruling party who made anti-Muslim comments. However, Facebook denied all such claims.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 14, 2020 05:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).