'We're open, transparent, non-partisan': Facebook amid political row

Facing intense political heat in India over its alleged role in favouring the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP on its platform social networking giant Facebook on Friday clarified its position saying it has removed and will continue to remove content posted by public figures in India which violate its community standardsAjit Mohan Vice President and Managing Director Facebook India said in a statement that Facebook has always been an open transparent and nonpartisan platform where people can express themselves freelyOver the last few days we have been accused of bias in the way we enforce our policies We take the allegations of bias incredibly seriously and want to make it clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in any form Mohan saidHe was referring to the controversy generated after a Wall Street Journal WSJ report claimed that Facebooks content regulation policies favoured the BJPThe WSJ report sparked a widespread debate in India raising serious questions over Facebooks content regulation practicesThe report claimed that Facebook Indias Public Policy Head Ankhi Das had told staff members that punishing violations by BJP politicians would damage the companys business prospectsMohan said the policies at Facebook are everevolving to take into account the local sensitivities especially in a multicultural society such as IndiaAn example is the inclusion of caste as a protected characteristic in our global hate speech policy in 2018 Mohan saidThe Facebook India chief said that the employees represent a varied political spectrum who have either served in many administrations or have political experience and take immense pride in being active contributors to public serviceDespite hailing from diverse political affiliations and backgrounds they perform their respective duties and interpret our policies in a fair and nonpartisan way The decisions around content escalations are not made unilaterally by just one person rather they are inclusive of views from different teams and disciplines within the company he elaboratedAmid the debate BJPs IT cell chief Amit Malviya has claimed that Mohan worked with the Planning Commission during the UPA eraAccording to Mohan there is no place for hate speech on Facebook but they need to do moreWe know this work is never over which is why we will continue to invest in our efforts to combat hate speech on our services We welcome the opportunity to engage with all parties political or otherwise who want to understand our content policies and enforcement more he said adding that Facebooks commitment to India and its people is unwaveringThe Congress has demanded that Facebook should order a highlevel inquiry into its leadership team and their operations in a timebound manner and publish and make transparent all instances of hate speech since 2014 that were allowed on the platformFacebook India should appoint a new team so that the investigation is not influenced said Congress leader KC Venugopal in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark ZuckerbergKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever