New Delhi, August 18: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday hit back at Congress over the hate speech row and cited examples of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Prasad also raised questions on high-level inquiry against Facebook India and demanding clarifications from the social media giant.

Expressing his opinion on the hate speech row, Prasad said, as quoted by news agency ANI, "In the past, Sonia Gandhi had said this is 'aar-par ki ladaai' & Rahul Gandhi said 'Public will beat PM Modi with sticks'; Is this not hate speech?" Shashi Tharoor Plans to Summon Facebook Over Rising Hate Speech in India Via Social Media Before Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT.

Apart from this, the Union Minister also raised the issue of on Supreme Court's order related to PM Cares Fund. He said, "Transparency is writ large in PM Cares Fund both in terms of legal requirement & transparent management of funds received on a voluntary basis. Our govt has not faced even a single accusation of corruption." Prasad alleged that that money from NDRF fund was given to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation during the government of Congress-led UPA.

Here's what RS Prasad said:

Earlier, reports arrived that Congress leader and Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology Chairman Shashi Tharoor is planning to summon the social media giant and want to hear the proposed plans of Facebook to curb hate speech in India.

Following this, Facebook acknowledged the allegations and issued the statement. It 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 18, 2020 03:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).