IT Correspondent
New Delhi. Sept. 23:
Facebook India’s vice-president Ajit Mohan on Tuesday moved Supreme Court against summons issued by “Delhi Assembly’s Peace and Harmony Committee”, probing Face Book’s alleged role in inciting violence during the northeast Delhi riots earlier this year.
Mohan did not depose before the Delhi Assembly panel on its first summon on September 15 and skipped the meeting saying the matter was under consideration of Parliament. Subsequently, the committee sent him a second notice to appear before it on Wednesday. However, Ajit Mohan asked for Supreme Court’s intervention in the matter.
Mohan, represented by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, had earlier contended before the Supreme Court that he cannot be compelled to appear before the Delhi Assembly committee as the hate speech matter is already under the purview of a Parliamentary panel. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Aniruddha Bose and Krishna Murari is expected to hear the matter via video conferencing.
The hearing by the Delhi Assembly panel started in the backdrop of a Wall Street Journal report that claimed that a senior “Facebook India” policy executive had intervened in internal communication to stop a permanent ban on BJP Telangana MLA T Raja Singh, after he allegedly shared communally-charged posts on the social media platform.
The committee headed by Aam Aadmi Party MLA Raghav Chadha had taken cognizance of the allegations against Face Book for its alleged “complicity” in North East Delhi riots of February saying that the “incriminatory material” was submitted by the witnesses.
The non-appearance of Facebook representative before the panel was not only “contempt” of Assembly, but was also an “insult” of the two crore people of Delhi. The failure of Facebook to appear before the committee shows that it is trying to hide its role in the Delhi riots, Chadha said..
Earlier this month, Mohan had deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, headed by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor over allegations that the Face Book was soft on members of the ruling BJP while applying its hate speech rules.
It may be recalled that the Face Book on September 03, had stated that it has banned BJP Telangana MLA T Raja Singh from its platform and Instagram for violating its policy on content promoting violence and hate. However Singh had claimed that he had no account with the Face Book networking site for over a year.
In a separate communication, Facebook had also told the Congress that the company was non-partisan and denounced hate and bigotry in all forms, and strived to ensure that its platforms remained a space where people can express themselves freely.
