New Delhi, August 16: A political controversy has erupted after a report claimed that social media giant Facebook was lenient on hate speeches made by members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to an article published in Wall Street Journal on Friday, Facebook’s senior India policy executive Ankhi Das intervened in internal content review processes to stop a ban on BJP’s Telangana MLA T Raja Singh, who made offensive remarks against Muslims. BJP Used 'Deepfake' in Delhi Assembly Elections 2020? Report Shows Videos of Manoj Tiwari Made Using Face/Voice-Swapping Technology.

Notably, Raja Singh's posts were found to be in violation of Facebook's hate-speech rules by employees charged with policing the social media network, said the WSJ report. The employees concluded that Singh should be banned from the platform under a policy called “Dangerous Individuals and Organizations”, it added. However, Das, according to the WSJ report, "told staff members that punishing violations by politicians from Mr Modi’s party (BJP) would damage the company’s business prospects in the country". BJP President JP Nadda Attacks Congress Over Supreme Court’s Observations on PIL for Probe Into 2008 China Pact.

Reacting to the WSJ report, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said: "This expose on Facebook comes as a shock because one expects companies like Facebook to be professionally run and managed. New facts are emerging exposing the close ties of important officials of Facebook India with the BJP. Democracy needs to be insulated from being sabotaged by such unholy collusion."

Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor, who heads the Parliamentary Committee on IT, said he will look into the issue and summon those who named in the WSJ report. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at Facebook, asking why it has different standards in different democracies. Owaisi also asked the BJP to disclose its "ties" with Facebook.

"Why does Facebook have different standards in different democracies? What kind of "neutral" platform is this? This report is just as damaging for BJP - it's time that it disclosed the full extent of its relationship with FB & the nature of control BJP exercises over FB employees," the Hyderabad MP tweeted.

Shashi Tharoor, Asaduddin Owaisi React to WSJ Report Suggesting Collison Between Facebook and BJP:

Asked about the WSJ report, a Facebook spokesperson said: "We prohibit hate speech and content that incites violence and we enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone’s political position or party affiliation. While we know there is more to do, we’re making progress on enforcement and conduct regular audits of our process to ensure fairness and accuracy."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 16, 2020 11:21 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).